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The Indian Elephant - Friend or foe?

By P.K.Ghosh

PUNE, February 24, 2008.

The elephant has been venerated in India since ancient times as the living manifestation of Lord Ganesha, the benevolent God who nurtures and protects mankind. He is not just a ‘friend’ but much more. To wildlife biologists, ‘Elaphas maximus’, the Asian Elephant, is the largest herbivore, a ‘flagship species’ that nurtures and protects the health and vitality of our forests. In fact, history provides interesting insights into the close nexus between the growth of human civilizations and elephant habitats in and around river valleys in India – a shared heritage that we may destroy only at our own peril. Yet, unwittingly perhaps, we are doing just that - driving the wild elephant out of his home, his living and breeding space, his food sources, his very sustenance. And in that process we are irreparably damaging our own ecological future, our air, water and food security. This is happening in almost all elephant ranges in the country where elephant populations are concentrated, in the south, in central, north-eastern and north-western India. Not far from where I lived for many years in Uttarakhand, many elephants have been mowed down by railway trains, drowned in canals and brutally hacked to death by poachers.

Let us for a moment look at some basic realities on the ground. A hundred years ago India’s forest cover was estimated to be about 50 % of the total land area of 33 lakh sq.kms. This came down to 30 % in 1950. The latest figures according to the State of the Forest Report 2005 just published, puts it at 20.6 %. Out of this, ‘dense forest’ (canopy density exceeding 50 %), is barely 11.8 %, the rest being degraded or scrub forest. In roughly the same period of about 100 years, the human population has grown from around 200 million in 1900, to 400 million in post-partition India (1950). Today it is more than a billion. Reliable data is not available of our wild elephant population prior to 1992 when Project Elephant was launched following considerable alarm about declining numbers from habitat loss, poaching etc. The last census (2002) indicates a total population of about 25,000 (the enumeration exercise for 2007 is yet to be completed). Historical evidence points to vast numbers of them roaming India’s once abundant forests, even from Moghul times, and one would not be far wrong in saying that a hundred years ago, in the days of the British, their numbers were in excess of 1,00,000. All said and done, there is no escaping the conclusion that the elephant’s natural habitat has shrunk and the species is under great pressure from man.

Elephants are long ranging animals. Their survival depends on being able to move freely from one feeding ground to another in search of fodder and water. Fragmentation of habitat, and loss of connecting forest corridors, adds to their distress as much as actual loss of forest land for agriculture and human settlements. This is also the main reason for conflict with man since hunger and thirst drives them to raid crops and water sources in and around villages. Every year many hundreds die as a result. During 2000–2004, 300 people were killed by elephants in Jharkhand. In the past 12 years in Assam alone 605 people lost their lives, and in the same period 265 elephants were killed in retaliatory action by angry villagers. Figures for the whole of India would indeed be staggering.

By nature the elephant is not an aggressive animal but becomes aggressive if made the target of aggression and harassment by humans. With increasing competition for land and food resources and constant persecution, they are now beginning to rebel. Even temple elephants in the south are going on the rampage and killing their mahouts, especially during festivals. With nearly a hundred such fatalities in the last two years, all retaliatory in nature, the Kerala High Court has intervened to regulate the working hours and unbearable work loads of temple elephants. Researchers from Oregon State University, studying the increasingly aberrational and aggressive behavior of elephants in many countries, say that elephants are animals with a highly developed sensibility and deep-rooted sense of family, and what we are witnessing is a “precipitous collapse of elephant culture in a losing battle with humankind”.

In India, given the high population densities in and around our reserves, the danger of aggravated levels of conflict is very real. Project Elephant, launched by the Central Government in 1992, was specially tailored to extend financial and technical support to 18 ‘Elephant States’. Twenty six ‘Elephant Reserves’ have been notified, providing complete protection to viable populations of elephants over their entire range. Apart from protecting habitats and securing corridors, Project Elephant also assists state governments in mitigating human-elephant conflicts and payment of ex-gratia relief in cases of loss of life and crop damage. Domesticated elephants, of which there are an estimated 3600 in India, also come under Project Elephant’s protective umbrella. They are faced with decreasing employment opportunities, inadequate veterinary support, unskilled mahouts and cruel treatment. Comprehensive legal support is now in place. Our wild elephant population, barring some regional variations, has more or less stabilized.

However, some serious concerns remain and need to be addressed urgently. Many states have been tardy in implementing migratory corridor plans or putting in place effective administrative machinery to manage those that cut across interstate boundaries. Deterioration of habitat has added to man-animal conflicts, and poaching continues unabated. On the face of it, things are likely to get worse, not better.

There are undoubtedly some plus points in our elephant conservation strategy, but the future appears anything but rosy. Recent political moves such as the passing of the Tribal Act and efforts to dismantle the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court, have cast deep and ominous shadows on our entire forest and wildlife conservation scenario. What chance of survival will our apex mammals have? Tigers have been pushed to the brink. Elephants, now in their twilight years, are not far behind. Our forests are threatened as never before. India’s former Solicitor General and eminent environmental lawyer, Harish Salve, did not mince his words when, at a recent Seminar in Delhi, he said, “I don’t know whether the tribals know what is being done in their name. It is an unabashed attempt to put politics over environment. If the Act is implemented in letter and spirit, you may as well wind up the forest department.”(Times of India, Feb. 19 & 20, 2008)

Modern mans predicament is aptly summed up in the words of the renowned Buddhist poet-philosopher, Dharmakirti, who lived in south India in the seventh century A.D.

He wrote:

“No one behind, no one ahead.
The path the ancients cleared has closed.
And the other path, everyone’s path,
easy and wide, goes nowhere.
I am alone and find my way.”

If there is hope at all of saving our forests and wildlife – and humanity - from the ravages of climate change and collapse of ecosystems, it lies in the hands of our younger generation. They have the power of knowledge and will, I believe, acquire the wisdom and the courage to find and follow the right path.