There is a high risk of elephant encounters in coming days unless immediate and long-term measures are taken, including freeing elephant corridors that have been blocked by the creation of Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.  According to experts, human–elephant conflicts in and around the Kutupalong camp will increase if the movement of wild elephants and their migration corridors are blocked for long.

 As of January 2018, Bangladesh hosted almost one million forcibly displaced persons from Myanmar, who are meeting their basic needs, such as food and shelter, by using resources from the adjacent forests in Cox’s Bazar. As a result, indiscriminate deforestation is affecting the biodiversity and forest resources in that area, according to a report prepared by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

 The Rohingyas are burning about 50,000 kg of firewood by cutting trees for cooking every day in Ukhiya, Teknaf and Naikhangchhari areas. This is destroying the ecosystem of Cox’s Bazar, forest officials say.

 The government has already allocated 3,000 acres of forest to build sheds to accommodate the Rohingyas in and around Cox’s Bazar.

 According to a report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), deforestation and degradation of forests due to uncontrolled fuel wood collection could result in an irreversible loss of productivity and extinction of plants and and animals in Cox’s Bazar.

Around 14,000 hectares of buffer forest within five km of the Rohingya camps will be degraded within four months, the report says.

The IUCN conducted a survey between January 21 and February 13 on elephant movement, human–elephant conflict, and possible intervention sites in and around the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. It surveyed approximately 70 sq km of bare hills around the Rohingya camp and completed transect walks of around 240 km.

A total of 160 elephant dung piles and 630 elephant footprints of different ages were recorded during the survey period around the camp area.

The survey revealed frequent elephant movement around camp areas, with the highest concentration all along the west boundary. Footprint points were also found on the eastern side of the camp.

 According to the ‘dung count method’, the estimated mean elephant number is 38 (range 31 to 45) in the five forest ranges (on the west and south-west of the camp) in the Cox’s Bazar South Forest Division.

 “The hills around the camp are now barren due to a high rate of deforestation. There is a high risk of elephant encounters in the coming days unless the elephant corridors, blocked by the construction of camps, are freed. Wild elephants use these corridors during their movement,” Mohammad Sultan Ahmed, assistant wildlife biologist of IUCN, Bangladesh country office, told The Independent yesterday.

 Surveys and maps have revealed that elephant movement is frequent along the north-western and western boarders of the camps, specifically Camps 1, 3, 4, 17, 19 (currently not inhabited), 18, 20, 13, 14, 15, and 16, he added.

 According to Ahmed, highly endangered Asian wild elephants usually move in groups through their routes and corridors in search of food and shelter.

“The Kutupalong camp is situated within a very busy elephant corridor, which is now blocked with tens of thousands of temporary makeshift refugee houses and other structures.

The present survey results show extensive presence of elephants around the camp area. The number of elephants is expected to increase in the coming days as this area falls under the migration route and elephant corridor between Bangladesh and Myanmar,” he said.

 Both short and long-term measures are immediately needed to resolve the problem, he observed.  He also said that based on the elephant dung distribution and frequency, a total of 56 possible spots have been identified for installing watchtowers and 25 Elephant Response Teams (ERTs) must be formed to guard the camps.  

The IUCN survey further revealed that trip alarm may not be useful as an elephant deterrent tool, given high human activities around the camp, adjacent hills, and forest areas.

 So far, nine people have been killed, including children and elderly people, from September 2017 to January 21, 2018, in Rohingya camp areas.

SR