Pregnant elephant's murder highlights man-animal conflict

Whenever there has been human-animal conflict, be it stray dog vs people or elephant vs people, on paper the animal has always won. In truth it’s the human.The pregnant elephant which was found with a broken lower and upper jaw in the Mannarkkad-Nilambur forest is assumed to have eaten a fruit with gunpowder in it, since there is no other way it could have got such horrendous injuries. It is still not clear whether the trap was intended for the elephant or for some other animal.76231151But then, those in the know say this is not the first instance of a cracker exploding in an elephant’s mouth. Only that there have been no photographs. Interestingly, instances of a wild boar surviving a cracker trap and living in agony for days barely make news. The only one that became news recently was of a boar which “scared villagers’’ when it ran around in panic with half its face blown off!Despite the massive outrage against the pregnant elephant’s death, the fact remains that within a few months, crackers and other primitive traps will again surface. After all, farmers too need to survive. In just an hour or more, a pack of boars, deer, monkeys or a single elephant can destroy an entire season’s crops and, as we all know, government’s compensation for crop loss is either non-existent or rarely reaches the right people. But then, no animal deserves its mouth torn off either just because it was trying to slake its hunger or thirst. It is high time we looked at humane, sustainable solutions, which do not harm either party.Once an animal enters a farm, it is difficult to drive it away, especially if in a pack, and the solution is to stop it from entering, say forest officials and farmers unanimously. And proper fencing is the only means for that. Since a stone or brick fence is enormously expensive, battery-operated solar fences which emit mild pulsating currents are the only viable option.However, the crucial point with fences is maintenance. “If you hear about an elephant breaking a solar fence, most probably it was defunct. The number of lines laid depends on the animals in question. For boars you need a low line and even if a blade of grass touches it, the entire line will get short-circuited. You have to routinely clear the underside through the entire length,” says wildlife expert Dr PS Easa.76231255Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan, wildlife biologist, recalls finding fields in Sri Lanka where farmers had effectively maintained fences. “They erect temporary electric fences around paddy fields during the ripening season, which are removed afterwards. I also came across a village where all the houses contributed to maintaining a common fence. All the families were able to cultivate and harvest their crops successfully,” says Sreedhar.In addition, these villagers also maintain regular watch from treehouses which makes the method fool-proof. “In Kerala you would find large areas of reserve forests fenced. But maintenance is literally impossible for such lengths. Instead if you fence-in private farms, the owners can easily maintain it themselves,” he adds. The initial expenses are high but solar fences can work effectively for 4-5 years at which point they might need a battery replacement.A problem faced by the forest department is that land owners often expect them to do all this for them. “Funds are short and it is impossible for the department to fence all farms in the state and we prioritise areas where animals are found to attack humans,” says Sudheer Kumar, Peppara forest range officer.” At the same time, elephants are intelligent animals and a determined and desperate elephant can work its way through a working solar fence as well, points out Ajit VP, a fruit and vegetable farmer from Kanthalloor. “But I would agree solar fencing is the most effective, in comparison to all other methods.”Interestingly, many tribal colonies in deep forests who also grow crops, do not cite animal raids as a life-and-death problem. The key difference is in their attitude, says Jyothy Karat, filmmaker, who has worked with tribal people. “They accept that some of their crops will get destroyed by animals. Even a child there can detect an elephant’s presence 2 km away. They stand guard over the crops all through the night and chase away animals by making loud noises, never by injuring or killing them.”Dr Easa recalls visiting a tribal settlement in Punaloor where they had made a fence with a particular kind of tree branches which were quite effective. On the other hand, many migrant farmers from the plains are completely unaware of such methods and animal behaviour, and invariably face more problems, he says, a view shared by Ajit. “Only 10% farmers, with purely commercial gains in mind, would do such things, mostly those from cities with enormous plots, 100-150 acres. Also, the forest department has grown stricter with each passing year.”Meanwhile, the government is considering giving permission for landowners to shoot boars in their property. Would that solve the problem? It won’t, in Jyothy’s opinion. “What we need is a major overhaul of policy throughout the county, everything else is a stopgap measure. We are just experiencing the butterfly effect of things done from the 1800 onwards when unchecked development began, by different parties. The only thing we can do now is to undo the damage and use science effectively to deal with the problems, one by one.”