The Assam Forest Department is examining the Karnataka model of capturing wild elephants and taming them for anti-depredation tasks due to the recent incidents of man-elephants conflicts in the state that claimed many lives.
Assam Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya said that a meeting with forest officials, conservationist and NGOs will be held on Wednesday for formulation of a strategy to solve the man-elephant conflict situation.
Karnataka has been successful in capturing wild elephants and taming them even though its elephant population is quite high.
The captured elephants are tamed and trained in forest camps, and are now in demand in other states, for patrolling duties in forest reserves.
The state also exports some of its elephants.
Due to the alarming loss of forest cover in the state, many wild elephants come near the human inhabited areas and create a ruckus there which also leads to the killing of people.
The forest department of the state is in contact with the Karnataka Forest Department and its method of capturing elephants is being studied.
Moreover, the absence of kumkis(trained elephants used to capture another elephant) in the state has increased the man-elephant conflict situation.
According to estimates, the population of elephants in Assam is around 5,700 and they face a serious challenge now due to dwindling forest cover, reports The Assam Tribune.
To solve the man-elephant conflict, the forest department is planning to hire retired or old mahouts and phundis who were skilled in the art of capturing and handling elephants till the 1980s.
They are even considering hiring some trained mahouts of Karnataka.