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

July 10, 2009

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 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* <info

>

> 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-N\

epal-police-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

>

July 12, 2009

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-City-Kolkata-We-must-stop-depending-on-N\

epal-/articleshow/4767724.cms

We must stop depending on Nepal' S S Bist,

TNN 12 July 2009, 02:43am IST

KOLKATA: It is high time we stopped depending on Nepal. The problem of

firing on elephants could not be solved diplomatically. We took up the

issue with the highest authorities in Nepal. But it is clear that it

did not help.

The only way to stop this is to put up blockades so that herds can't

move into Nepali territory. It won't distress the herd, as

deforestation there would heighten the man-animal conflict. Instead,

we can compensate the restriction with more plantation on the existing

route. Blockades worked very well from 1983 to 1993 and herd movement

to Nepal completely stopped.

There should be more than one blockade near Hill Cart Road, and before

Balason river.

(The author is the former chief wildlife warden and now the managing

director of forest development corporation)

--\

---------------

CORRIDOR CHAOS

Elephants caught in border game

The Indian-Nepalese divide has given the man-animal conflict in the Dooars a

sinister twist — and spelt doom for the pachyderms

Pinak Priya Bhattacharya | TNN

When the trap was sprung on M o n d ay night, the elephants had nowhere

to run. For hours, villagers in Nepal’s Jhapa district had been following

the herd, closing in slowly, cutting off exits and gradually pushing the

jumbos into an area barricaded by electric fences. The herd — meandering and

foraging through the forest — was at peace with itself. The jumbos had no

clue that after crossing the Mechi river they had entered Nepali territory,

where they are not welcome.

Then, under the cover of darkness, the guns boomed. The jumbos turned to

flee, but all the exits were sealed with electric fences. A hail of bullets

— from guns allegedly supplied to villagers by Nepal’s Village Development

Committee (equivalent to India’s block development office) — rained down on

the hapless animals. The villagers were reportedly escorted and supported by

a Nepal police team.

Injured and bleeding, the herd finally went berserk. The pachyderms tore

up obstacles in the path and brought down houses. One of them took out Netra

Bahadur Biswakarma from his hut and tore him apart. Realising that things

were going out of hand, villagers removed the electric fencing and opened up

paths for the elephants to go back to Indian territory.

“We had no inkling that six elephants together could be so dangerous and

survive even after being shot. We had brought down an elephant two years

ago. But that was a solitary one. We decided to open a way for them to

return to India after they went berserk,” said Hema Devi Nepal, a resident

of Bamandangi village in Jhapa.

The elephants managed to return alive from Nepal as six of them were

together. Residents of this Nepal village are not ready to allow even a

single elephant from India to return. “They destroy our crops and leave us

without food. Those are ‘Indian’ elephants and we, the Nepalese, are not

ready to suffer for them. We will kill every elephant that enters Nepal,”

said Shyam Karki. “We plough the rough hilly terrain and sow paddy. But

during every harvest, Indian elephants raid our fields,” he adds.

The man-elephant conflict has been on for generations in this part of

Nepal. But things have taken a bloody turn in the last three to four years,

with villagers and Nepal police shooting dead two elephants while two others

were electrocuted and several sustained bullet injuries. The Nepal army’s

name has also come up in the cases. The worst years have been 2007 and 2008.

Every time an elephant was injured, it has retaliated against people.

After the first elephant was shot at in Nepal, the herd kept away for

several weeks. This inspired villagers and gave them the erroneous notion

that herds would stop intruding into Nepal if attacked frequently.

“Elephants do not have any nationality. They are global. But people of

Nepal do not understand this. We have repeatedly asked them not to be so

aggressive. But they refuse to listen to us. The Village Development

Committees have bought them sophisticated guns to combat the jumbos. They

don’t understand that this is the conventional corridor of the elephants and

that they (the villagers) have encroached upon their land,” said Manoj

Thapa, secretary of Biodiversity Conservation Society, a Nepalese NGO.

This NGO had taken an initiative to erect an electric fence along the

Mechi river bank to prevent elephants from entering Nepal. But people

engaged in smuggling foreign goods and betel nuts to India have, time and

again, damaged the fence. This opened up paths for the herds. “There is a

lack of awareness among people of Nepal. We have to work on it. But

political parties are creating problems in our work,” Thapa said. “The

Indian government should put pressure on its Nepalese counterpart to take

the initiative to stop people of Nepal from attacking elephants,” he added.

Villagers are ready to give elephants a free passage provided they are

compensated for the loss they suffer at the feet of the pachyderms. “In

India, villagers are well compensated. Therefore, they don’t kill elephants.

But we get nothing. So, we have to take care of ourselves,” said Kaji

Bahadur.

“Nothing can stop elephants from entering Nepal. This is their

conventional corridor and the route is rooted in their genes. People should

understand that human beings are th e actual intruders. The 300 km stretch

of land from Mechi on the west to Sankosh on the east has been frequently

encroached and this has increased the man-elephant conflict. The animals can

never be blamed for this,” said Sumita Ghatak, Darjeeling’s DFO, Wildlife I.

It is learnt that Nepal’s forest secretary had assured his Indian

counterpart last year that the Nepal government would take all necessary

steps to stop attacks on elephants in Nepal. But the commitment does not

seem to have been fulfilled.

To create mass awareness among people of Nepal, the Wildlife Conservation

of Nepal, an NGO, has arranged for a workshop in Nepal’s Biratnagar on 17

July. They have invited people of all sectors and have also sent invitations

to Indian NGOs. “We are left with no alternative but to penetrate into the

masses. Only then will we be able to save the animals,” said Navin Vaidya,

coordinator of the NGO.

*

KILLING PLOY

** *

JULY 2007:

*One jumbo killed in firing across the border in Nepal. Ten animals injured,

one of which dies later in India * *

2008:

*Two elephants electrocuted; another one shot and injured, again in Nepal

territory * *

2009:

*On June 11, a herd is allegedly shot at by Nepal policemen, leaving three

pachyderms injured. Another herd is fired at on July 6. One of the elephants

is

seriously injured, while another six to seven sustain bullet wounds

--\

---------------

Chalk out strategy after proper field studies: Parbati Baruah

Naresh Mitra | TNN

Guwahati: Parbati Baruah, the elephant expert legendary for her skill

at taming wild jumbos, called the firing on elephants in Nepali

territory “cruel and inhuman”.

Baruah, perhaps the world’s only woman mahout, felt the frequent

firing, allegedly by Nepal police, on elephant herds crossing the

international border will only intensify the man-elephant conflict.

“Elephants are intelligent and sensitive animals. They are an angered

lot after the frequent injuries. This anger is the manifestation of

the intensifying conflict.

If the practice is not stopped the situation is going to become worse

in future,” said Baruah, who has tamed many a rogue elephant with her

own hands in the North-East.

Last month, an elephant herd was fired upon, allegedly by Nepal

police, while crossing the Mechi river flowing through North Bengal.

Many elephants were feared injured in the firing. Two years ago, Nepal

police had allegedly injured a number of elephants by firing on them.

Baruah suggested that proper field studies in the conflict areas near

the India-Nepal border and follow-up strategies involving both

governments could ease the situation. She also said that a strategy

based on seasonal variations should be considered.

“It is very sad that elephants have to bear such atrocities. These

animals are pushed to the extreme limit. On one side, there is

unabated human encroachment on their habitat, and on the other side

they are subjected to such inhuman torture. This problem has become a

pan-Indian phenomenon,” she said.

“We should understand that human-elephant conflicts are ignited by us.

And it is our duty to mitigate it. We cannot imagine forests in India

without elephants. There has to be solution to this problem, otherwise

future generations will have to see the animal only in pictures. The

present status of elephants across the country is very tragic,” said

Baruah, who is a descendent of erstwhile princely state of Gauripur in

Assam.

She learnt handling elephants from her father Prakitish Baruah, a master

elephant trapper and elephant expert.

On 7/9/09, azam24x7 <azam24x7 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* <info

>

> 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-N\

epal-police-again/articleshow/4755212.cms##>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