(IN- NP): Nepal police fire at elephant herd

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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.

 

 

 

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