An Elephant Brutality Killed

Om Ganesh Namah! 

A perfect ode to a beloved God. For every new startup Ganesha is the first deity to be praised. The almighty sports an elephant head. How and Why? Is it a myth or factual, and that perhaps it is timeless as well? 

Nevertheless Hinduism is a belief that collectively reveres all aspect of nature ... the philosophical aspects are deep and the believers are not animists. More and more...we are realizing that nature's love and preservation is essential for our survival.     

It is the word all-encompassing that describes the World, does not it? So the belief is a holistic science, I wish to inform readers before they began to get trapped in false conjectures. It is simple science that all life forms and elements on Earth are interconnected and by praising the Lord in any form...by this, we acknowledge reverence to his creation. This applies to animals too and hence veneration of the lovely creatures in some form or the other. I do not imply that all should follow, for it is each to his or her own belief. 

Brutal Elephant Killing or Murder?

In a district of Kerala, an Indian State a wild elephant cow hungry and pregnant came into the human abode seeking nourishment. For a wild animal accepting the proximity of humans is because of distress as well as due to trust. All she received was a handful of fruits laden with explosives. Was this accidental? No Way! Fruits do not contain firecrackers they were deliberately placed or rather fed to her with the intention to kill. She stood in the water at a nearby pond suffering pain and unbearable agony due to the heinous deed of the civilized.  With her mouth and perhaps innards badly damaged she was beyond recovery an early death could have saved her from the agonizing pain. 

She stood still in a stupor after the shock of the explosion inside her!        

Of Punitive Measures! 

The uproar was justified and still continues and will continue till the culprits are punished for this gory crime. But this also reminds us of how we treat other life forms on Earth. We are brutal towards wild animals, especially whence threat perception overtakes our sanity. Our legislations ignore wild animals or takes them lightly, there are no punitive measures harsh enough that could discourage these inhuman deeds. The law should be unrelenting over such deeds and yes implemented with vigor. 

Our Fear & Human Insensitivity & Vedas

People feel threatened in the vicinity of these creatures, and our beliefs is shaped by the vermin concept and total disregard for them. This is in spite of the Vedic ethos that was part of our evolving civilization and nurtures us since birth. There is a lot of emphasis in Vedic Literature on conservation and the best way to carry forward this message is to denote life forms and natural elements as holy or worthy of respect and hence should be preserved. Some find this illogical?   

Yes, human sensitivity should not ignore other life forms we care for ourselves. For our threat perception, there is a mechanism in place to deal with any violence that could be a result of a possible or real-time attack.  We are evolving mechanisms to capture the animals alive in case they come to our vicinity. We now have snake handlers, animal catchers, professional vets, tranquilizers, nets, and cages that incarcerate the temporarily till they are released in their homes. And we have the forest department trained to look after the forest and wild animals. But there is a point here too. 

Where Do They Go?

What about the homes of the wild animals we are encroaching with rabid speed... the environs that support other life forms. So where do they go? They are hard-pressed often to enter urban surroundings and then this is the treatment we accord to them. Sic!

Almost every day tigers, bears, snakes, and other animals are becoming victims of human greed and empathy. This seems to be a never-ending phenomenon.  Not only animals...we are destroying our green lungs, the precious ecosystems that support life on Earth.  Unimaginable acreage of forests is being lost to human greed. And then we complain about global warming and pandemics.

Reap As You Sow!
=======================================================

Uday Works as Freelance Naturalist and Blogs on conservation, tigers, and environmental issues. 
He also provides SEO and Website Content in English.
Uday Teaches Internet Marketing Classes in his hometown of Jabalpur in the Summer.  
He can be contacted at: 

pateluday90@hotmail.com

Man Animal Conflict: Wild Elephants & Habitat Loss

Unearthing the Earth!

{Governments do not look beyond the projects! When framing a developmental project please spell out the environmental concern first! We do not want a rail line or a highway passing from a land belonging to other life forms in our precious habitats!}

First it was the rapid expansion of agriculture and settlements that decimated vast habitats in India. Now we have this development thing going with a jingoistic fervor beyond comprehension. The agriculture lands rapidly converted...taken away from wild animals or other life forms... were primarily forests and to some extent grasslands, not forgetting aquatic ecosystems that were destroyed in the wake. 

While in case of tigers, they were completely wiped out from denuded forests all over the country, the elephants clung to the remains and inaccessible regions since being coarse grazers they are not specialized hunters like the big cats. But their population grew in time to come especially, from ban on hunting which was a must. 

What we fail to realize is that floral diversity is the prey base of the elephants like in case of many other herbivores. It is this floral diversity we are losing in the country. Please do not look from the perspective of protected areas they constitute a minuscule of land. Conservation has to be widespread pervasive constructively.     

The pillage has resulted in severe man animal conflict vis a vis the pachyderm and man. As the elephants venture back into what were their earlier feeding grounds they find the urban assemblage highways, rails, canals, dams, settlements, industries and mining grounds apart from acres of fields to their consternation. 

Umbrage as results is difficult to manage and men die too with the animal being blamed for it. Sadly as consequence!  Electrocution, poaching, hunting, accidents all are decimating the population of pachyderms in India. 

Wildlife encroaching upon the fields is not greed they are not especially fond of agricultural produce in the country of rapidly shrinking habitats it is a necessity an act of survival. Wildlife encroachment into human settlements is not an aberration or desire to kill it is simply trying to recover lost homelands or gain more space in order to survive. 

But unfortunately human fields and settlements are full stops the poor animals are incapable of understanding. Take the case of Asiatic Lion in India issues have stood in the way and they have not been trans-located to other grounds so far. This will certainly result in conflict in their present area and the predator will be put to blame. I hope better sense prevails!         

All this reeks of a bad land management for conservation output. Draw a straight line and excavate...projects take priority...the development imperative.  

Now this question should arise how much land should we vacate before we lose all our endangered species and endanger those that are not...but in time to come. Do we have a time bound solution? 

Encroachment into prime habitats is not a hidden factor it is right in the open and dispensations pay two hoots to it. But creating more PAs and increasing the dimensions of existing PAs is definitely the answer. Restricting agrarian practices, preventing commercialization and unchecked development is the answer! This cannot be done outright that is quite evident but a more circumstantial approach should in place. But who has the time and initiative? All we see is personal bickering in the media and formulation of policies only based on human welfare. There is hardly any thought accorded to environmental concerns and conservation. Just creating institutions and acts is not enough proper implementation and rationale has to be a proper ongoing activity which we expect from the people at helm. The people of India would like to witness more committed and sincere approach towards conservation and environmental concerns in totality.             

Under the Project Elephant the Government has issued directives to Elephant States to create barriers  (sic) and trackers will study the movement of these animals to minimize conflicts. Is this the root cause management? One way to minimize conflicts with animals living in our wilderness is to accord more space. Are we willing? To many the suggestion would appear as gross illogical. Where will the humans go?        

The World we live in reeks of human prerogative and prejudice other life forms are mere elements that evolved along with man but are now inconsequential. 

Who is to blame? 

Fairly and squarely humans are to be blamed...and the act most damaging has been unchecked population growth, which continues to grow. The development imperative may not necessarily have to be due to the population of India bursting over the seams. Every dispensation is interested in managing the countries huge population (Vote Bank) irrespective of ecological cost that the Nation has to bear. Population growth should be checked with full vigor. Then comes the development factor which is erroneously blamed on the massive population. This would have been there even if the population check was in picture. 

Look at some developed countries there is nothing left but this modern human assemblage. Have they stemmed the rot that is the environment imbalances? No! The climate change is effecting one and all and to worsen the unchecked fossil fuel consumption is nothing but disastrous. So we too emulate them!      

India differs from many other Nations in that our conservation ethos date back to thousands of years and the message is still intact. If we do not stem the rot there will be no places for wilderness in the country and the result is already warming thanks to the climate change which will take a noticeable toll in time to come.       

Role elephants play in conservation. 

========================
Uday works as naturalist at Kanha National Park.
He writes on conservation issues and wildlife.
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com

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.