Rajapalayam, June 23, 2020

Social media is a double edged sword but can be used to advantage to stop crime, as this case proves.  Wildlife Trust of India’s Green Corridor Champion (GCC) in Tamil Nadu helped enforcement authorities apprehend criminals using popular video sharing apps in the Srivilliputhur – Saptur elephant corridor.

Wildlife Association of Rajapalayam (WAR) under the leadership of TS Rajha, our GCC has been monitoring this elephant corridor since October 2019. During this monitoring supported by the Whitley Fund for Nature, the WAR team came across some videos on a popular video sharing platform depicting illegal activities inside forests, identifying the locations by markers in the video, they were able to identify and report three specific illegal incidents to the Tamil Nadu state forest department. Videos of snare making, bird poaching, timber smuggling, the making of bait bombs were being shared on these platforms and the state forest department wasted no time in apprehending these criminals.

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The WAR team also helped apprehend timber smugglers when they came across illegal extraction of timber from a protected forest. They were able to trace the people involved through the number plate on a bike that was found parked near the forest. Through the local forest department, the Wildlife Warden was also duly informed about this and the suspect was arrested and the timber seized.

The Srivilliputhur-Saptur elephant corridor in Tamil Nadu is important because it connects the Saptur Reserve Forest with Srivilliputhur Reserve Forest of the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Sanctuary, supporting a population of about 150 elephants. Biotic pressure due to illegal extraction of forest products and human activities such as tourism have affected the habitat quality of this corridor.

“We have a good working relationship with the Forest Department frontline staff, we regularly report illegal activities in protected forests to them and prompt action is always taken” added TS Rajha.

Recognizing the need to empower and engage local organizations for successes in elephant conservation, WTI has successfully identified and engaged local NGOs and organizations for monitoring elephant corridors across the country under the cohort of GCCs who act as the eyes and ears on the ground.

With the first GCC initiated in 2016, there are now 20 GCCs monitoring and protecting 40 such corridors for hindrances in elephant movement working in tandem with the state forest department.