Tuskers on tracks: how many more elephants must die before a solution is devised?

Elephants or Tuskers are classified as mega herbivores and consume up to 150 kg (330 lb) of plant matter per day. They graze on the tall grasses, but the portion consumed varies with season. When the new flush appears in April, they remove the tender blades in small clumps. Later, when grasses are higher than 0.5 m (1.6 ft.), they uproot entire clumps, dust them skillfully and consume the fresh leave tops, but discard the roots. In the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve three elephant clans had overall home ranges of 562 km2 (217 sq. mi), 670 km2 (260 sq. mi) and 799 km2 (308 sq. mi) in the beginning of the 1990s. The movement and habitat utilization patterns of an elephant population were studied in southern India during 1981–83 within a 1,130 km2 (440 sq. mi). Conversion of elephant corridors into estates, buildings and crop cultivation sites results in crop damage and human causalities.