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| Jumbo crossing. Calicut- Kollegal NH at Muthangn. www.deccanchronicle.com |
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| human - elephant conflict, India. newsblaze.com |
| Trained elephants have been part of Indian social and religious culture as they are closely associated with temples rituals, etc. It is also widely used in lumber industries based in Kerala, Assam and other states. Important temples of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have an elephant or more than one and many of these elephants are donated to the temples by the devotees. They are mostly well behaved and have been trained to accept donation and then bless the devotees by putting their trunk mildly on their head. Besides temple elephants carry the deity in the procession during festival times. In Kerala, in most of the festivals one will not miss to see a few richly caparisoned elephants, with bells around their neck, etc as part of the procession. For the children and others it is a great entertainment, watching a huge animal obeying orders from the Mahout who can be crushed to death by him in a jiff. |
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| Forest officials inspecting the trench being dug to prevent entry of elephants into villages, in Koundinya wildlife sanctuary near V. Kota in Chittoor distric, Andhra. www.thehindu.com |
In many states, human habitats near wooded areas have become scenes of increasing human-elephant conflicts. People living in the fringe areas of forests are in a state of constant fear and threats for several years and many get killed by wild elephants for different reasons. Between 2014 and 2015 as many as 413 people and 72 elephants died, because such human-elephant conflicts are propelled by population growth, expansion of agriculture lands and urban areas which in turn impact on the animal habitats which show sings of shrinking as days go by without a viable solution in sight. Shrinking habitats, loss of food, etc are the main reasons that force the animals to move out of their home in search of food, etc. West Bengal reported the highest number of death at 89, followed by Assam at 54 a few years ago.
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| Solar fencing to deter elphants, tamil nadu.www.indiamart.com |
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| Chilli and elephant. arbroath.blogspot.com |
The wild Trust of India (WTI) who are trying to resolve this menacing problem caused by wild elephants is working hard to secure such elephant corridors, along which the pachyderms move, in Assam, Megalaya, Kerala and Karnataka to reduce the threats and damages by way of relocation of villages, community participation, land purchase, early warning of elephant raids, etc. Relocation of an entire village is a difficult task and in some places it does work well. In the next decade their target is 100 elephant corridors across India to reduce the conflict between pachyderms and people.
In the agricultural areas near the forests, the farmers across India face similar threats. Elephants barge into the farm lands and sometimes into the villages and leave behind a trail of chaos, destruction and damages. Crop losses run into crores of rupees. Farm lands are raided by elephants, not withstanding several safe guards followed by the farm owners such as elephant prevention trenches (EPT), chilli fences, solar powered electric fences with warning system, etc. In Kerala, farmers follow a different, but effective method. They raise beehives on their properties to scare the raiding elephants.
Many small towns in Tamil Nadu close to the wild animal habitats witness the human - elephant conflict, as in other states. Among the town in Tamil Nadu which has well-known elephant sanctuaries, the Coimbatore Forest Division covering 693 sq. km area, has the highest incidence of human-elephant conflict in this state and in the last 20 years 100 people lost their lives on account of elephant raids and 24 elephants were electrocuted.
Besides facing depredation of their crops by the elephants, people frequently face threats from smaller animals like wild boars and ungulates and occasionally leopards. Consequently ever increasing number of people are getting nightmares and restless about elephants and other wild animals trespassing their agricultural lands and getting ever closer to them and their families. It means loss of income, struggle to go to work on their farms.
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| Distribution of elephants in southern India ces.iisc.ernet.in |
The Project Elephant, the Ministry of Environment and Forests' elephant-affairs body observed that there are two kinds of land allotted for elephants. National park and sanctuary constitute 22% of elephant territory that gets better protection. The rest forms another kind that includes reserve lands, revenue lands and private forests. These are highly exploited lands and majority of elephants live in these useless areas. In many states the loss of elephant habitat is very much. In Assam it is way high - 65% since 1972. Elephants that migrate to different places in the summer and in the winter choose their home based on quality of the terrain, forage and plenty of water. They are quite sensitive to their food requirements. If the number of herds swells and if the habitat is not sustainable, they lose their home but try to stay very much there but raid the neighboring places every now and then for additional food, etc when they have pangs of hunger. Each elephant needs at least 230 plus kg plus of food a day. To make up the shortage, they risk crossing the high ways, human settlements, water bodies, etc., to reach for crops and grains. As some poachers kill them for tusks, they are stressed when they reach the villages for food that results in confrontation with humans who equally need their grains for food and income. The elephant- human conflict is artificially created by the humans for their selfish needs. The end result is both elephants and human beings are suffering.
Tit-Bits:
Drunk elephants:
In the State of Meghalaya in NE India the villagers of Dumurkota have altogether different problems that may sound funny. Here the pachyderms raid the villages and shops for different reasons. They are not looking for fresh food and vegetables. Then, what are they up to? They are looking for an alcoholic brew to feel high or perhaps, to burp up their frustration. How come they have picked this social habit of humans? These villagers have a tradition to enjoy and relax over a glass of local country brew called Mahua
(brew made from Mahua plants)
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| drunk elephant with two drunks. www.wpclipart.com |
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| Drunk elephant aftera few barrels of Mahua. www.huffingtonpost.com |
Ref:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2229334/Fifty-drunken-elephants-ransack-village-gulping-500-litres-alcohol.html
http://navrangindia.blogspot.in/2015/08/drunk-indian-elephants-and-terrified.html
http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/desperate-neighbours/article240117.ece
The Project Elephant, the Ministry of Environment and Forests' elephant-affairs body observed that there are two kinds of land allotted for elephants. National park and sanctuary constitute 22% of elephant territory that gets better protection. The rest forms another kind that includes reserve lands, revenue lands and private forests . These are highly exploited lands and majority of elephants live in these useless areas. In many states the loss of elephant habitat is very much. In Assam it is way high - 65% since 1972. Elephants that migrate to different places in the summer and in the winter choose their home based on quality of the terrain and where forage and plenty of water are available. They are quite sensitive to their food requirements. If the number of herds swells and if the habitat is not sustainable, they lose their home but try to stay very much there and raid the neighboring places ever now and then for additional food, etc. Each elephant needs at least 230 plus kg plus of food a day. To make up the shortage they risk crossing the high ways, human settlements, water bodies to reach for crops and grains. As some poachers kill them for tusks, they are stressed when they reach the villages for food that results in confrontation with humans who equally need their grains for food and income. The elephant- human conflict is artificially created by the humans for his selfish needs. The end result is both are suffering.
According to Project Elephant, the Ministry of Environment and Forests' elephant-affairs body, only 22 per cent of elephant territory in India is given the highest degree of protection as a National Park or Sanctuary; the rest falls under an assortment of lax regimes such as reserve, revenue and private forests. In other words, the bulk of elephant territory lies in areas that are exploited and degraded by humans. The few isolated studies that quantify the loss of elephant-used forests indicate that they are being destroyed literally right beneath the pachyderms' feet. In one extreme case, Assam has lost 65 per cent of choice elephant habitat since 1972. Elephant forests are also sliced and severed by highways, dam projects and railroads. Elephants live to be 50 years old, so what do they do when they lose their homes? They do not just go away to other forested areas, instead they stick it out and try to adjust. What to eat in which area at what time of the year is learnt by rote from the time an elephant is a mere calf following in its mother's and aunts' footsteps. Their destiny is intrinsically coupled to their habitat. That is why despite the risk to their lives, they insist on crossing highways and railway tracks and even swim across reservoirs to use their home range.
heir home range whose extent is determined by the quality of the forest and where forage and water are located. Whatever the extent of the range, elephants need access to all of it to survive. If parts of their home are blocked by human settlements, they will use the cover of darkness to walk through crops, and villages. Forsaking that inaccessible part of Escalating conflict
As if ransacking the elephants' home isn't enough, humans kill bull elephants for their tusks. Herds don't escape the wrath of farmers either. Each region has its preferred choice arsenal to kill and maim elephants. Stressed elephants may avoid those areas of their home range where they perceive danger and may congregate to find safety in numbers. The habitat that could sustain a smaller herd of elephants may take a beating from such large herds. Eventually the forest becomes so degraded that it cannot sustain the same animals any longer. This drives these elephants to the closest available food: crops. And the vicious cycle of violence continues.
It is commonly suggested that conflict is a result of growing elephant numbers. But in Assam, although the elephant population is decreasing, the conflict graph doesn't show a corresponding downward trend. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve has one of the largest elephant populations and yet conflict is generally considered to be low. There is no evidence to tie elephant numbers to conflict but there is plenty to show that high and growing human numbers have an impact on conflict intensity. And this is the bottom line: in the overwhelming majority of cases the cause of conflict is human-driven and it is critical for us to recognise and acknowledge this if we are to find equilibrium in our rel
Elephants spend summer in one part of the forest and go to another for the winter. They are faithful to their home range whose extent is determined by the quality of the forest and where forage and water are located. Whatever the extent of the range, elephants need access to all of it to survive. If parts of their home are blocked by human settlements, they will use the cover of darkness to walk through crops, and villages. Forsaking that inaccessible part of their home is usually not an option and conflict becomes routine along these passageways.