Context:

• Elephant corridors report plagued with inconsistencies, could escalate conflict with humans, says expert

Inconsistencies Highlighted in the Definition of  Corridors in the Elephant Corridors Report

• Definition of Corridor: The Elephant Corridors report has classified landscapes and habitats as corridors.
  • Landscapes, being an overarching geographical entity, are partly fragmented due to agricultural contingencies. The corridors then serve as crucial links between habitats spread across these landscapes. 
  • The original meaning of the corridors has been lost and there is a tendency to call every place where elephants move as a corridor. 
• Contraction Of Area Fit For Large Elephants: The areas in West Bengal close to Odisha and Jharkhand, like Mayurjhirna, have only small patches of forest cover that are fit for elephants. 
  • The rest of the areas where elephants move in south Bengal are human-dominated agricultural fields. 
  • The elephants go to Bankura, East Midnapur, West Midnapur, and even Bangladesh. 
  • The document suggests linking these areas to other elephant landscapes, which has never been the intent of the word corridor.
• Expansive Corridors:  This would significantly escalate human-elephant conflict. Annual human deaths have already increased from 25 to about 500-600.
  • The expansion of range is also causing elephant deaths due to electrocution, falling in wells, and entering human-dominated agricultural landscapes.

News Source: DTE