(NP): Nowhere to run:Elephants Vs Nepal Bullets

[Guest guest]

The only device that villagers would have installed to keep the elephants

away could be a 220 V live electric fence which uses electricity stolen from

the State Electricity Board.

This is a common practice in Assam, I would not be surprised if

West Bengal villagers too are doing the same.

 

There is a case pending in the Supreme Court filed by WPSI with regards to

the above nuisance of public and the ignorance of the Electricity board to

check the crimes.

 

Azam

 

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 3:14 PM, <

journalistandanimals wrote:

 

>

>

> Dear Azam,

> This message has been passed on to Mr Tariq Aziz, who

> heads WWF International in Nepal. It has also been circulated to Indian

> army

> personnel. I am also sending it to a member of the Asian Elephant

> Specialist Group that is currently meeting in Beijing.

> Many thanks for bringing this to our attention. From the reports I have

> received from WWF staff in Nepal, there appears to be a feeling in the

> Nepali media that Indian villagers have developed a device to push these

> elephants into Nepal to wreak havoc. If this is true, it is quite

> interesting. A rhino, although it belongs to the Indian subcontinent,

> becomes exclusively Nepali as long as it remains within Nepalese borders

> but

> an Asian Elephant assumes the role of an intruder when it crosses the

> border

> and does not remain worthy of Nepali protection. It may be a bit premature

> to speculate as to why the Nepalese are spreading this kind of insidious

> nonsense about India but I would be very keen to know what kind of Indian

> device sends elephants scurrying into Nepal. The suggestion is preposterous

> and Indian diplomats should take this issue up with their Nepali

> counterparts to prevent further hate mongering.

> Best wishes and kind regards,

>

>

>

>

> On 7/9/09, azam24x7 <azam24x7 <azam24x7%40gmail.com>> wrote:

> >

> > A NATION SPRAYS BULLETS AT ELEPHANT HERDS !!

> >

> >

> > This time it is not poachers but Nepal's Police with sophisticated

> weaponry

> > which is perhaps expected to act as the saviors of these gentle giants

> have

> > instead brutally massacred them.

> > With nowhere to run these jumbos are now being ridiculed as target

> > practices on a regular affair.

> >

> >

> > STILL THE WORLD IS QUIET.

> >

> >

> > Please see the news reports below and do the best possible one can to

> stop

> > this trend from becoming a tradition in Asian nations.

> >

> > Also please take this issue to the highest possible platform within one's

> > capacity and voice for their SOS.

> >

> >

> > We must get the offenders punished.

> >

> >

> > Please ask the Nepal Prime Minister to STOP the massacre and demand an

> > explanation to the incidents:

> >

> >

> > *Office of The Prime Minister and Council of Ministers*

> > *Singh Durbar*

> > *Kathmandu, Nepal*

> > *Phone: 977-1-4211000*

> > *email**:** **info <%2A%2Ainfo%40opmcm.gov.np>* <

> info <info%40opmcm.gov.np>>

> >

> >

> > We must get this act publicized to best we can.

> >

> >

> > Please circulate these new items to all your friends.

> >

> >

> > Let the world know how much a nation hates ELEPHANTS.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Azam Siddiqui

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > ___

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata-/Elephants-shot-at-by-Nepal-po\

lice-again/articleshow/4755212.cms

> >

> > Elephants shot at by Nepal police again

> >

> > 9 Jul 2009, 0126 hrs IST, Pinak Priya Bhattacharya, TNN

> >

> > JALPAIGURI: Less than a month after an elephant herd was shot at on the

> > Indo-Nepal border, yet another herd was fired at by the Nepal police

> onMonday evening. One of the elephants has apparently received a serious

> > injury while six to seven others are believed to have been hit by bullets

> as

> > well. This herd, along with two others, is still moving around in the

> border

> > area.

> >

> > It was almost 48 hours after the shooting that the Indian forest<

>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata-/Elephants-shot-at-by-Nepal-po\

lice-again/articleshow/4755212.cms#%23>authorities

> came to know about it. A Nepal NGO Biodiversity Conservation

>

> > Society wrote to the state forest department, informing them about the

> > incident. Forest officials of the Kurseong division held an emergency

> > meeting to review the situation, but senior officials were not present

> > there.

> >

> > In a near repeat of last month's incident, policemen at Jhapa in Nepal

> > opened fire at a herd that crossed over late on Monday evening. Three

> herds

> > had crossed over into Debipur and Bamondangi around the same time. Unlike

> on

> > the last occasion, Indian forest authorities did not hear gunshots. It

> was

> > only after the Nepal NGO informed them that they came to know about it.

> But

> > none of the herds have been traced as yet. The herds are still moving

> around

> > the Naxalbari-Bagdogra area of India and the Bamondangi-Debipur area

> across

> > the border.

> >

> > Indian NGOs have alleged that the forest department has refused to take

> the

> > matter seriously or pursue it at the government level. " This is the

> second

> > such incident in a month which is alarming. Several elephants were shot

> at

> > the same spot two years ago. Despite repeated requests, the forest

> > department has not taken up the matter, " said Animesh Basu of Himalayan

> > Nature and Adventure Foundation.

> >

> > But across the border in Nepal, the firing has been taken seriously by

> > NGOs. Several of them will come together for an emergency meeting called

> by

> > Wildlife Conservation of Nepal on July 17. They will discuss the future

> of

> > elephants in eastern Nepal at Biratnagar. Indian NGOs are expected to

> take

> > part in the meet as well.

> >

> > In early June, an elephant herd was fired upon by Nepal police in Jhapa.

> > When Indian forest guards sought to prevent the firing, they too were

> shot

> > at. At least four elephants were feared injured though none could be

> traced

> > later.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata-/Nepal-police-fire-at-elephant-herd/a\

rticleshow/4642111.cms

> >

> > *Nepal** police fire at elephant herd*

> >

> > 11 Jun 2009, 0519 hrs IST, Pinak Priya Bhattacharya, TNN

> > JALPAIGURI: Nepal police allegedly fired at a herd of elephants near

> > the Mechi river on the India-Nepal border, injuring several of them.

> > This is a

> > near-repeat of a similar incident two years ago.

> >

> > Even a team of Indian forest guards from the Kurseong division was

> > shot at when it crossed over to Nepal to try and persuade the police

> > to desist from firing at the animals. The guards had to take cover on

> > the bank of Mechi and crossed back to India after two hours. While the

> > herd has moved back to Indian territory, it is still not clear if any

> > elephant has been killed in Nepal or if those which have returned have

> > got bullet injuries.

> >

> > Mechi happens to fall on end of the traditional elephant corridor in

> > north Bengal that stretches for 400 km till Sankosh on the Assam

> > border. Every year, the herd enters Nepal and moves back to India

> > after having crossed the Mechi river. In 2007, the Nepal police had

> > opened fire on the herd killing a tusker. Several had received bullet

> > injuries leading to an outcry from animal rights organizations all

> > over the world. It was alleged that the herd was destroying crops and

> > property. On that occasion, too, the Indian forest department had

> > tried to persuade the forest officials in Nepal's Dhapa district to

> > desist from firing but their efforts had failed.

> >

> > On Tuesday evening, a herd of around 60 pachyderms entered Dhapa.

> > Soon, the elephants reached Bamondangi village where an elephant had

> > been shot in 2007 and started raiding homes and fields. The Nepal

> > police, that had been waiting on the banks of the Mechi, opened fire.

> > For around two hours, they fired indiscriminately at the herd. The

> > gunshots alerted the Indian authorities who sent a team of guards from

> > the Kurseong division. But they were not spared either. Even before

> > the guards could reach the Nepal police outpost, they were sprayed

> > with bullets. Even though they managed to evade the bullets, the

> > guards had to lie on the ground for two hours, waiting for the firing

> > to stop.

> >

> > The forest department suspects that several members of the herd that

> > has now crossed back to Kalabari forest in Darjeeling district could

> > have sustained bullet injuries. " We have been hearing distressed

> > trumpeting calls from the forest which is a bad sign. It indicates

> > that some elephants are injured. We are trying to locate the injured

> > animals, " said Silvand Patel, chief conservator of forests, wild life,

> > north Bengal.

> >

> > Wild life activists and senior forest officials reacted angrily to the

> > firing. " This is not only unethical but violates international rules

> > as well. This has been happening for the last two years despite

> > repeated appeals to spare the elephants. We are going to take it up

> > with union government soon, " said Animesh Basu, convenor, Himalayan

> > Nature and Adventure Foundation. The Foundation plans to write a

> > letter to the union environment minister informing him about the

> > firing.

> >

> > Senior forest officials felt it was futile to try and persuade the

> > Nepal authorities to stop firing at elephants. " Two years ago, we had

> > several meetings with the Dhapa forest officials. They had agreed not

> > to fire and seek our help in controlling the herd. Accordingly, we had

> > helped them put up power fences and even trained their workers to

> > drive away the elephants without harming them. But they went back on

> > their word, " said S S Bist, elephant expert and managing director of

> > the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation. Bist had taken the

> > initiative in 2007 to try and persuade Nepal into an agreement.

> > " Through the Indian embassy, they had promised not to open fire on

> > herds. Now, it is clear that such agreements have no value. We must

> > restrict the elephants to Indian territory. They can be confined to

> > the Mahananda sanctuary and prevented from entering Nepal, " added

> > Bist.

> >

> > Last year, an elephant had been electrocuted in Nepal. Later, it died

> > of its injuries in India.

> >

> > --

> > http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

> > http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui

> >

> >

>

>