Human interference posing threat to elephant population

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The Assam Tribune, Guwahati, Wednesday, 25 January, 2006

Link: www.assamtribune.com (search in CITY section )

 

Human interference posing threat to elephant population

By A Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Jan 24 – Elephant habitats in several areas of Assam

along with some others in the North East are facing threats from

human interference. What is more, the movement of the species is

becoming more difficult with the disappearance of elephant corridors.

 

A publication of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Right of

Passage — Elephant corridors of India has stated that the elephants

are now found in four " distinct populations and a few scattered

populations in the Barak valley. "

 

In the north bank of the Brahmaputra, biotic pressure has resulted

in degradation and fragmentation of elephant habitat. According to

the publication, " the Sonitpur District of Assam has been the worst

affected and between 1994 and 1999, it lost 86.75 sq km of forest

area and recently between 1999 and 2001, it lost 145.44 sq km of

forest area. "

 

It is further revealed that the Gohpur Reserve Forest is now

completely encroached and some other Reserve Forests of Sonitpur

are " under heavy encroachment " . The publication favours remedial

measures in several degraded landscapes and suggests that urgent

steps need to be taken to improve the habitats of Sonai Rupai

Wildlife Sanctuary, Charduar Reserve Forest and Balipara Reserve

Forest. "

 

Findings of the WTI point out that population in the eastern areas

south of the Brahmaputra, has separated from the north bank

population in the 1970s and from the south central areas in the

1980s. " The separation from the south bank central areas was due to

large-scale felling and encroachment in Dayang Reserve Forest. "

 

The condition of elephant habitat in the central range of the south

bank is perhaps even more disturbing. The publication states that

this population has lost its links with the one in the south bank

western range, again due to various anthropogenic factors.

 

With primary attention on the elephant corridors of the country, the

Right of Passage identifies the North East as the region where most

of them are located. It shows that 22 per cent of the India's

elephant corridors exist in the region. About 32 per cent of the

corridors in the North East are under Reserve Forests and the rest

are in combination with other land holdings.

 

Talking to The Assam Tribune, noted ecologist Anwaruddin Choudhury,

one of the contributors to the WTI publication, said that the

threats to the future of the elephants must be removed by new

mechanisms. One such step could be giving legal status to the

elephant corridors.

 

At present the elephants depend on corridors which people can

destroy or obstruct at will especially if they are away from

protected areas. Giving legal status to elephant corridors would

ensure that people would not interfere with the traditional routes

taken by the animals. " While the ownership of the land would reside

with an individual or with a community, the land use would remain

intact, " he said.

 

For Choudhury, the main problem for the elephants in Assam is marked

shrinkage of habitat. The shrinkage has been the most extensive in

the districts of Golaghat and Sonitpur, as a result of which human-

elephant conflicts too have risen.

 

Like the majority of conservationists, he is of the belief that

eviction drives must also take place in several areas crucial for

the survival of elephants. " It is late, but we must conserve the

habitat that remains if we are serious about protecting the

magnificent animals. "