Monday, July 31, 2017

Tiger Conservation - Role Park Elephants Play

The elephant trudged laboriously traversing tortured terrain to reach the tiger. The animal restless and cornered was in an extreme state of stress surrounded on both sides by giant pachyderms with humans on top.  After some pictures and a look, we returned back. The Tiger Show was over.   

The practice came much under protests. The stress on the elephant and the tiger were palpable. But this practice was a precursor of the shikar days whence the hunters rode on the elephant back to shoot the helpless predator. But the tiger show was much more innocuous since here the animal did not lose its life.    

Tiger has to be seen to be believed!

In times of loss, the show worked wonders.

Many myths were shattered especially among the common man as well as the decision-makers. The animal came out of a malicious opprobrium of being bloodthirsty and an enemy of men. To many one look was enough to understand its role in the ecosystem. That the carnivore only killed for food that too - it was limited to the prey base - came out as a relief for those who considered it as vermin. Man-eating is an aberration that happens much less frequently than a fatal road accident.      

Anyway, the tiger show was stopped for good and a new mechanism of tracking has been discovered by guides and naturalists that enables to see the big cat in its natural surroundings. This is much less stressful thanks to set regulations and rules in the reserves.   

The mahout or elephant riders were disappointed, the tourist offerings went missing. Nevertheless, the pachyderms had an intense role to play. They became the sentinels of the reserves. Now used extensively in patrolling, they safeguard the tiger heavens. They are also instrumental in conservation efforts thanks to the accessibility that they offer in the dense canopy. They aid and assist scientists, guards, conservationists, and filmmakers in the arduous task of reaching the animals in the deep recess.     

To mitigate stress the animals are used mostly during the daytime and the off period offers rest and more time to look after the young ones.  There are elephant camps set up within the reserves which reduce the distance and offer privacy. The mahouts with their knowledge of the wilderness also regularly study the big cats in their areas and report any incidence or anomaly that could require human interventions.   

In India capturing elephants in the wild is banned hence the camps act as nurseries to keep the stock going. Animals are indispensable for conservation work. Some parks do permit elephant rides where the tourists get good views of the habitat. But this is subject to availability.   

The park authorities and the mahouts look after the animals with care and consideration. They are sighted with much joy by foreigners who have never seen an elephant.