Sugath Kulatunga

Some time back on a private members motion in the Parliament there was a debate on the damage done to the agricultural crops done by monkeys (Toque macaque}. There was unanimity across the party divide that crop damage by monkeys has increased very rapidly and now is in a crisis proportion. It was mentioned that monkey population has multiplied to around 3.8 million. The damage caused by animals mainly monkeys is estimated as close to Rs 8 billion. While the government is urging the farmers to produce more food are destroying around 40% of the crop mainly the coconut crop. No wonder that there is a shortage of coconuts, and the prices have shot up to over Rs 150 per nut. It has become a serious problem and a threat to food production and even of children from the marauding monkeys. The loss to food production is estimated over 40%. But nobody suggested a practical solution. It was again plenty of talk and with no outcome on effective and immediate action.

It is useful to go back a few years when this problem was not there. It started with the removal of shot guns from farmers in the late 80s. After that there was an illegal circular from a former secretary of Defense to the Police that persons over 60 years of age should not be given gun licenses. This prevented older generation of farmers who are the majority among farmers obtaining licenses.

The immediate solution is to withdraw that circular and give back the shot guns to all farmers irrespective of age. If they can handle a mamoty they should be able to handle a shot gun. The objection that there is an increase of crime with the use of guns is not valid as such crimes are caused with the use of T56 weapons or 9mm pistols. At the same time legal protection of  peafowl and giant squirrels should be lifted.

Farmers would not kill every animal invading their property. A blank shot now and then is enough to keep monkeys away. Monkeys are intelligent animals. They can recognize even the human wielding a gun. The very sight of the person is the cue for them to withdraw.

Elephant Damage

Elephant damage has become a more serious problem today with animals breaking into houses in search of food. Expensive electric fences have failed to keep them out. It suggested to use DRONES to drive them away. Drones can be used to drop chili powder or spray chili mix on herds of animals. A simple and inexpensive method is the use of chili smoke which is practiced in East Africa and even in Assam.

The method is to burn chilies the smoke of which is supposed to be unbearable to the very delicate nose of the animal. (which is supposed to be more than 1000 times more sensitive than that of humans) There seem to be many ways of using chilies.  I believe it should be effective enough if chili smoke is used when elephants invade the compounds and even attack houses.

Chili smoke is supposed to be unbearable to the very delicate nose of the animal. (which is supposed to be more than 1000 times more sensitive than that of humans) There seem to be many ways of using chilies.  I believe it should be effective enough if chili smoke is used when elephants invade the compounds and even attack houses

Some time back National Gegraphic Magazine reported that:-

In Tanzania they fill a condom with chili powder. Mix in small rocks and sand for weight. Add a firecracker for a bang. Launch condom at elephant. Save elephant’s life.

All it takes is one elephant rumbling through a field to destroy a family’s food supply for an entire year, so it’s no surprise that a farmer might turn to the only tool he has available—a spear. But this elephant warning system gives farmers a low-tech way to scare these animals away from their crops without violence.

Each night, a member of the team will keep watch over the crops, looking out for elephants. If one is spotted, the volunteer begins the four-step warning system.

First, there are the strobe lights. Shining a bright, flashing light at an elephant in the dark is sometimes enough to make it turn around and leave. If that doesn’t work, the volunteer will sound an air horn. Step three is the chili-firecracker condom. Elephants are extra sensitive to smells, so a cloud of chili powder is usually unpleasant enough to make them leave.

Chili has been used for decades as an elephant deterrent. Chili-powdered ropes, chili-plant buffer zones, and even smoke bombs made from dried elephant dung and chili powder have been known to keep elephants away. Honeyguide and the Big Life Foundation, a nonprofit conservation organization with operations in Kenya and Tanzania, began experimenting with chili grenades made from chili powder, sand, firecrackers, and condoms several years ago.

Elephants are critical to Tanzania’s tourism industry, but for farming communities located near elephant populations, there’s often little choice but to kill them.

A “chili cloud,” made from chili powder, sand, and a firecracker, won’t harm an elephant—it just makes him uncomfortable enough to turn around and leave.

Elephants can eat 990 pounds (450 kilograms) of food a day. And they uproot and scatter almost as much as they eat. Crop raiding, as its called, puts the livelihoods and lives of people in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana, India, Indonesia, and other countries at risk. Each year, elephants cause millions of dollars in damage to crops and trample people to death. But with the elephant population under pressure from the ivory trade—some 30,000 are poached each year—protecting them is crucial. Bell said crop destruction can even encourage farmers to turn to poachers because poachers can “sort out the problem for them.”

The chili condom grenades are just one tool in a growing arsenal of elephant deterrents. Fences made of beehives, tobacco dust, recordings of tiger growls, and advance-warning text messages are just a few of the ways people are working to help farmers and elephants in African and Asia peacefully coexist.”

This story was produced by National Geographic’s Special Investigations Unit,

We should try these simple methods at least on a trial basis.

Sugath Kulatunga

secretary@agrimin.gov.lk namalk@ parliament.lk