Indian elephants are in for chilli shock

Electric fencing has hardly proved a shocker for Assam’s marauding elephants, so authorities have turned to a cheaper — and hotter — option. They are erecting rope fences dipped in chilli powder around paddy fields and plantations to reduce man-elephant conflicts.

The state Forest Department, in collaboration with WWF-India, has begun ‘hot fencing’ using Bhot Jolokia in Balipara area of Sonitpur district. Bhot is the local term for anything of Bhutanese origin and Jolokia is the world’s hottest chilli measuring 1,001,304 Scoville heat units — nearly twice as hot as the Red Savina pepper it replaced in the record books in February.



“We have begun work on this chilli-smeared rope fencing,” Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain told the Assembly on Tuesday. “These chillies are too hot even for the elephants, and we are banking on the success of this experiment to check man-animal conflicts.”

“Man-elephant conflict has taken a serious turn because of large-scale encroachment on elephant corridors,” Hussain admitted. He said officials were trying their best to handle the situation. “The problem is beyond conventional control. We have sought help from international experts, but the onus is on each MLA to remove encroachment from elephant corridors.”