(IN): Elephant encounters

[Guest guest]

Link: http://www.assamtribune.com/hori.html*

 

Elephant encounters*

*Rajdeep Singha*

 

 

I proudly remember the day November 15, 2007, when I went to Rani to

literally access the man-elephant conflict. It was a time when autumn was

bidding adieu to welcome the winter. Being a nature lover, I enjoyed every

bit of the journey to the green land that enticed my eyes and soul. My stay

over there was very well arranged by the Rani range officer who also helped

me a lot in conducting my proposed survey. Next morning as I strolled round

the range consisting of three reserve forests — Rani, Jarasal and Kawasing —

accompanied by the village headman, I could feel how fragrant and fresh the

air was with the sun peeping through the dense patches of trees. The village

headman gave me firsthand knowledge about the history and geography of the

area as well as the social customs and economic conditions of the people.

 

Rani, barely 20 km south of Guwahati, is a treasure house for nature

lovers. Surrounded by Meghalaya on the southwest, Rani seems to be a perfect

picture of nature's bounty. There are about 96 revenue villages and one

forest village in Rani having a population of 86,539. Rani is blessed with a

variety of flora such as eastern hill *sal* or the Khasi hills *sal*. But

these pure patches are interspersed by a mixed deciduous forest in the

middle slopes and valleys. The principal species occupying the top canopy of

the forest are *ahoi, paroli, bhelu, sida, sam, sopa, gamari, amara, siris,

koroi, dimoru, seleng*, etc. There are also evergreen patches, a ground

cover of habitation thatch and grass besides various climbers. The forest

has a sizeable population of monkey, leopard, wild pig, wild cat, fox,

python, and different species of birds.

 

The people there — Rabhas, Hajongs and Bodos living in close harmony with

nature — are very warm and welcoming. They greeted me in their traditional

ways and never let me go without a cup of tea or a piece of betel nut.

Farming is the main occupation of the people who, however, carry a lazy

attitude towards life. The area is quite developed compared to other forest

villages, yet the people seemed to be very much happy leading a traditional

life.

 

When I asked the villagers about the intrusion of the pachyderm into their

paddy field, they told me with much horror how they have to spend sleepless

nights during the harvesting season. They asked me to wait till the late

evening to watch the actual conflict. In the evening, as the sun set

abruptly behind the mountain, the area soon became a battlefield. The people

had their dinner before it's dark and then collected firewood, utensils,

charge-light, fire crackers and other tools to 'fight' the impending

intruders. The menfolk of each household set out to their respective paddy

fields to monitor the advancing jumbos. Some took position on the *tongi

ghar *(tree house) to keep a watch, while some others sat round the bonfire.

 

I was a bit nervous as I had never witnessed such a 'battle' between two

most intelligent creatures in their own right. I was busy searching for a

suitable site to take photographs and watch the jumbos come in contact with

humans in search of food when one villager asked me to make sure my escape

route to avoid the raiding elephants. The jumbos usually come in herds, but

it is not always a uniform marching and the darkness works in their favour.

They often come without giving any warning and cause havoc; so they are

referred to as 'silent giants'.

 

Suddenly, I heard a loud burst of fire crackers along with the sound of gun

shots. I saw foresters running about here and there, on foot or in their

vehicles, amidst a din of utensils clanging, accompanied by people's

whistling and cry for help to save their crop from the jumbos. It was a herd

of nearly 50 elephants coming down the mountain and rushing towards the

paddy field. But the herd soon disintegrated into small groups because of

the resistance. It was like a tug of war, and I found myself nowhere in the

midst of such a situation that almost took three hours to calm down. The

elephants returned but not before damaging a vast track of cropland.

 

It was my first experience watching the wild elephants in their rampaging

mood having no regard to anything, whatsoever. Nothing seemed to work and

the fire crackers and stones hardly had any effect on them as they went on

feasting on the ripe rice grain in the field. As the elephant herd was

marching towards the paddy field, the people had no other option but to

retreat to save themselves rather than their crops and hence, a vast area of

the paddy field remained unguarded. So, in a single raid a large portion of

crops got damaged in no time.

 

The elephants being migratory in nature migrate from one place to another

in search of food and water and when their migratory habitat is fragmented

and reduced, they often come in contact with the humans and stray into

surrounding cultivated areas and villages. An average elephant needs more

than 200 litres of water and about 200 kilos of food in the form of various

grasses, plants and bamboos. So, the area, they are inhabiting, must have

adequate amount of food and water for the whole herd. According to experts,

elephant is a slow eater that likes to chew and digest each morsel.

 

On enquiry, I was told that damage to the forest in recent years was

relentless and the reason is obvious — an unabated cutting of trees by the

timber mafia who clandestinely pass the truckloads of timber by putting a

seal of Meghalaya government which makes it virtually difficult for the

Assam forest officials to seize the timber. As a result, there is ten to

fifteen per cent depletion of forest cover annually. Moreover, the shifting

cultivation practised by the Khasi people has also compounded the problem.

Apart from these, continuous felling of trees for the purpose of firewood

has also led to the shrinkage of forest cover. Again, there are several

stone quarries in and around Rani where regular blasting makes the elephants

more annoyed.

 

While, I was moving through Kawasing and Jarasal, I came across a dense

forest of sal trees and an open grassland. In its midst there are three

revenue villages and one forest village and few joints that bear the brunt

of elephant depredation. It is very difficult to distinguish the revenue and

reserve areas as they are very close sans any visible barrier. People here

harvest their crops before they are ripe and this is to avoid the risk of

the crops being eaten by the elephants. But harvesting the crops early

lessens the quality and weight of rice grains which break into pieces while

milling. Yet there seems to be no other alternative. According to the

farmers they can hardly manage their home grown rice grain throughout the

year due to elephant raids that have now become a common feature. Due to

such raids approximately 40 per cent of their crop go waste. Yet, hoping

against hope, they are still cultivating their land because it is their

blood and soul.

 

There is also encroachment in the reserve areas knowingly and unknowingly

by the villagers who cultivate paddy wherever they can. This has posed a

great danger for the protected area due to population pressure. [There has

been approximately 20 per cent increase in the population around the reserve

from the last census.] The soil in the area is alluvial and fertile,

suitable for paddy cultivation. But the people have not tried any other crop

in the apprehension that it may not suit the soil condition.

 

A very complex problem, this man-elephant conflict has a direct relation to

high population growth that has pushed nature beyond its limit. While the

innocent animals cannot be blamed for their unwarranted deeds, the poor

farmers, who live hand to mouth, will definitely feel agitated when they see

their hard tasks go in vain. There seems to be no end to this problem as

there is corresponding increase in the population of elephants too in the

last couple of years. The sad part of the story is that the villagers do not

receive any compensation from the authority for the loss they sustain every

year. Till date eight people had also been killed by the elephants adding

misery to them. Ironically, Hindus worship the animal in the form of Lord

Ganesha, the remover of obstacles or the god of protection, but the people

there still love the elephant very much and consider it to be an integral

part of their lives.

 

Nature has gifted Assam and its neighbouring states with immense natural

beauty and wealth. Existence of a vast population of Asiatic elephants in

the Northeast is a great gift of nature. The bulk of these elephants are the

residents of Assam with a set pattern of migratory movements to and fro from

Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. The elephant range in Assam is

approximately 25,000 sq km with an estimated population of little over 4,000

distributed in both the banks of the Brahmaputra river. Of this,

approximately 150-200 elephants are present in Rani range.

 

Indeed, the solution to the seemingly unresolved man-elephant conflict lies

in rectifying the past mistakes. There should be sincere and selfless

commitment towards reviving the lost elephant habitats. The situation has

already blown out of proportion. It is a classic case of " taking time rather

time taking you " . Conservationists are quite sceptical about the survival of

the elephants in the long run due to the rate at which elephant habitats are

being depleted, fragmented and encroached upon by humans. There will be

hardly any chance for the future generation to see this magnificent animal

in the wild unless some urgent corrective steps are taken.

 

*Rajdeep Singha*

 

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United against elephant polo

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com