Elephant culling : a perspective

[Guest guest]

Dear colleagues,

With reference to Richard Leakey's recent support of

elephant culling in South Africa and similar proposals in India, I am

attaching the viewpoint of noted Asian elephant expert, Kisor Chaudhuri FRGS

on the issue. He has been working for the conservation of Asian Elephants

for more than a decade. Mr Chaudhuri refutes culling as a tool to be used in

wildlife conservation measures in India. Hope his views enlighten everyone.

Regards,

 

 

 

*Since the recent past, suggestion for including " culling " as a tool for the

management of Asian elephants is making the rounds within the murky

corridors of forest departments in some States of this country. Such

atrocious indications are possibly based on the recently realigned

management practice being advocated in South Africa. A handful of

hunter-turned conservationists, particularly from West Bengal, are the

proponents of such ideas and excited about the possibility of reloading

their guns rusting from long years of disuse. By quoting examples from

Africa where terms are dictated purely by anthropocentric considerations,

these perpetrators of terror are shaking the very foundations of Asian

elephant management principles carefully nurtured by conservationists for

several years. *

 

*In Africa the propagators of culling make human induced climate change and

habitat destruction as reasons for heightened human-elephant-conflicts

outside the Protected Areas and hence, as only way out some of these

populations deserve to be 'culled' and the rest maintained at appropriate

levels by using the " tested and approved fertility control measures " . What

can be a worse excuse for eliminating a species that has been forcefully

induced with anomalous behavioural traits by man himself! *

 

*In India, we still do not have any idea about the population size, sex

ratio and family structures that roam the jungles, the ritualistic counts

published by the Project Elephant remain highly suspect. Unlike in Africa,

the density of forest trees and the geographical features of preferred

terrain truly make 'head count' an enormously deceptive exercise. Without

the supportive knowledge of population dynamics of any species such

despicable suggestions deserve to be consigned to the gutters. Are we

exhausted of all other ideas?*

 

*For the past few years I have been working on projects for the study and

restoration of 'elephant corridors' in Orissa and Jharkhand. I have noted

with great distress that fragmentation of traditional elephant habitats

Keonjhar and West Singbhum caused by open cast iron ore mines spread over

70,000 hectare of forestland and three major river valley projects have

almost completely terminated their movements between these two states.

Denial of passage through traditional 'corridors' has forced a sizeable

population to colonise two newer locations in Dhenkanal and Angul districts

of Orissa. Addition of these populations with those already established in

the region has, over the past two years, worsened the conflict situation. *

 

*Instead of suggesting elimination, the Management Plan prepared by me with

open-arm support from Mr. S C Mohanty, PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden,

proposed several steps to ensure habitat continuity by way of

re-afforestation in some areas within the mining zone and construction of

" Elephant Friendly Ramps " (EFRs) over the irrigation canals. I do not,

however, predict total elimination of conflict possibilities but surely,

such efforts will mitigate the situation to a great extent. *

 

*More than an ethical or sentimental issue, we must understand the role

tropical forests play in global climate control and these forests can only

be saved from the axe by promoting the protection needs of some

mega-species, under present circumstance, the elephant. For past few years I

have been watching in great distress the decline of forest cover in the

erstwhile tiger habitat of Palamau Tiger Reserve where the knowledge of

almost total decimation of tigers has set the timber Mafiosi to work

overtime. If not for anything else, we need such species for the future

welfare of our world, once again, an expression of anthropocentric attitude.

*

 

* *

 

*Kisor Chaudhuri FRGS*

 

*kisorpapri* <kisorpapri