Karnataka

Karnataka will hand over the Kumki elephant to Andhra Pradesh on May 21 to deal with the Man Elephant conflict along the Karnataka-Andhra border.

Karnataka Forest and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre said on Sunday that in the formal ceremony held in Vidhana Soudha, the trained elephants will be handed over to Andhra Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Pradesh Prady Deputy Minister Pawan Kalyan.

Mr Khandre said in a statement that the handover of the elephant was part of a best practice agreement for exchanges in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. The agreement was formulated at the International Conference on Elephant-Human Conflict in Bangalore in 2024.

Additionally, on 8 August 2024, Mr. Kalyan also owns an environmental portfolio, bringing a delegation of forest officials to Bangalore and requesting Mr. Khandre to provide eight Kumki elephants to manage, drive and capture wild elephants.

He also seeks help, providing training to their Mahouts and forest staff to catch elephants.

Later, on September 27, 2024, when Mr. Khandre visited Vijayawada, a common understanding agreement was signed between the two states on this issue.

“The Koral district, bordering the Chittal region of Andhra Pradesh, has been experiencing an increase in human conflicts in elephants. The actions carried out by the forest sector of Andhra Pradesh will help prevent rogue elephants from crossing Karnataka.

He added Kumki elephants that would not attend Jamboo Savari at the Dasara celebrations held in Mysuru, but would not be handed over to Andhra Pradesh.