India Calls for Elephant Range States to Address Increasing Elephant Deaths
Officials from elephant range states are meeting in Delhi this week in hopes of finding a solution to the growing number of elephant killings in India.
Loss of habitat leading to an increase of conflicts between elephants and humans, combined with the invasion of poachers into government-protected zones, are resulting in an unacceptable increase in elephant deaths in India.
To address this issue, officials from India’s elephant range states are gathering in Delhi this week.
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Bittu Sahgal, environmentalist and editor of Sanctuary Asia warned via the Guardian UK that India’s elephant population is decreasing rapidly.
Elephant numbers are about a third less than the government thinks and dropping like a stone in a lake.
As human population expands and wildlife habitat disappears, conflicts are unfortunately increasing; wild elephants have reportedly killed 30 people. The outcome? Retaliatory elephant killings by villagers are on the rise.
Retaliation is suspected in the case of a female elephant found dead at a tea estate last week on the Indo-Bhutan border, as it is believed she was deliberately poisoned.
Poachers are also infiltrating India’s protected areas. The killing of elephants for their tusks has recently seen a tragic resurgence, due to the unfortunate association of elephant ivory with wealth, most notably in China. Sadly, ivory trinkets and decorations are considered “must-have” items for Chinese citizens eager to display their status.
Elephants helping elephants?
One suggestion for curbing human-elephant conflict has been to employ Assam’s kunkis (trained elephants) to chase wild elephants away from human settlements. This solution could provide income for mahouts and their elephants, who have fallen on difficult times since the 1996 ban on felling.
According to a recent article in The Telegraph India, Uladguri has been using kunkis for years to minimize conflicts between wild elephants and humans. Mahouts reportedly charge Rs 25,000 per month for the service.
Elephant protection policies need to be implemented
While India does have elephant protection policies in place, the problem likely is the actual execution of such policies. Sahgal believes that without implementation, elephants are doomed.
I am afraid this [problem of conflicts between humans and Indian elephants] is entirely predictable. India has good policies [to save the elephant] but does not implement them.
Until it does, the elephant is condemned.
Asian elephants are classified by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered, with a decreasing population. Although at the moment, India reportedly has one of the world’s largest wild elephant populations, conservationists are concerned that without serious action, elephants could suffer the same fate as India’s wild tigers - which are now nearing extinction.
Let’s hope this meeting translates into action for India’s wild elephants.
Image: flickr.com/digitalcolony/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
