The netizens celebrated World Elephants Day on Thursday by trending the hashtags such as #Internationalelephantday , #ElephantLove #Gentlegiants on the platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and even Facebook while the ground reality is different in some parts of western ghats in South India.
Even after the Madras High Court passing orders that elephants should not be chased away by bursting loud crackers, the incidents are still happening in isolated areas of Coimbatore district which is located at the base of Nilgiri mountains of Western ghats.
Coimbatore has been witnessing widespread urbanisation in recent years blocking the elephant corridors. The city’s border near the mountain bases is witnessing the man and elephant conflict frequently. At least 10 to 12 people die every year during such encounters in this region.
Locals say that the forest department officials now have no alternative to chasing away the elephants when they trespass the human habitation and hence they use loud crackers despite the court order.
“The sound of crackers scares and hypes the anxiety of elephants resulting in elephant losing its control and entering into the human settlement, elephants also get injured during such incidents often,” says Jalaludeen, President of the Nature Protection Centre.
Environmentalists also suggest that the forest department can get permission from the court to use the firecrackers with less intensity and use if only if it is seriously required. The department should also find a new alternative for the same in the coming days as the conflict is likely to increase in the coming years.
“Though there are other methods such as using sirens and bright beam lights to send away the gentle giants, there are many limitations even in that. Sirens can be used only in close range encounters while high beam lights can be used only in the dark. There are no alternatives other than using the firecrackers” says a forest guard.
The villagers take control over the situation until the forest guards arrive which makes things worse. “Only the forest guards can use low-intensity crackers to disperse the elephant, the villagers and general public should stay away from it since they also irk the gentle giants resulting in human loss,” warns biologist Sasikumar.
Animal rights experts suggest that forest officials should also take vet doctors with them when they use the crackers in unavoidable situations as they get injured, many elephants go berserk when they are injured.
Avoiding the expansion of human habitation in the elephant corridor zones, not blocking their predominant paths and finding an alternative to chasing away elephants without hurting them will only make the situation better, therefore minimalising the human-animal conflict and letting the gentle giants thrive.
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