Page 40 - Demo

Right: Elephants at Puliyankolly Photo credit: Pranav Capila
The secured land has been handed over to the Kerala Forest Depart- ment that has been accorded legal protection as part of the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary and Wayanad North Forest Division in a gazette notification issued by the Kerala Forest Department in 2015.
The corridor is being monitored to understand the forest condition, anthropogenic pressures and the impact of securing the corridor on wild animal movement. Information was collected regarding extent of corridor usage by elephants pre and post securement, vegetation types and biotic threats like cattle grazing, felling, lopping or any oth- er infrastructure presence.
The team also continuously monitoring the communities to assess their socio-economic status before and after relocation, to under- stand the impact of relocation on their lives and to take corrective
Fig 1: Elephant dung encounter rate in corridor lands and forests
measures if need be, as well as to channelize various government schemes to benefit the villagers.
The average elephant dung encounter rate in secured corridor lands from January 2008 to March 2018 was found to be 21.79 (standard er- ror of ±1.57), and in corridor forests it was 20.67 (SE ±2.49).
The dung encounter rate was also analysed across sites and seasons. Elephant dung encounter rate in secured corridor land and corridor forest is almost similar that clearly indicates that the secured corridor lands are regularly used by elephants and has become part the corri- dor forest over the years. Studies in Kalakad - Mundanthurai
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