I’m sure all of us would have read of the latest ‘jumbo menace’ making front page news in most leading dailies. Well, the most important question is not why, but why not? Who has termed this as a ‘jumbo menace’? I don’t find this collection of words in any English dictionary, normal or abnormal. The point is that there is simply no phenomenon known as ‘jumbo menace’. This is a term that has been coined for those who do not understand the underlying reasons behind the elephant – human conflict and in most cases, those who coin these terms cannot even pin point a conflict area on a map!
Basically, elephants, like all migratory creatures, roam far and wide in search for that all encompassing nectar – the sweet water and food, of which the world is in dire need to conserve. Added to this are years of tradition and history, where herds follow a specific route that their ancestors once followed. And to top off this elephant pizza, we humans encroach upon elephant habitat in ways such as plantations, roads, houses, resorts, etc.
Cases in point:
Take for a simple and easily accessible example:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1065865/Pictured-Elephants-march-hotel-lobby-built-migration-trail.html
In this case a herd of African elephant in Zambia followed a migratory path that now had a lodge built in the midst of it. The migratory path doesn’t always have elephant on it and is seasonal, but the lodge has visitors year round. As research revealed, a mango tree happened to be a source of food for this particular herd (when the mango fruit ripens every year) and as usual made their yearly sojourn to this tree only to find the Mfuwe Lodge standing in their path. Quite naturally, being off this path for a year, the elephants were quite ‘one tracked’ and proceeded through the lodge premises to take up the trail beyond and move over to the tree in question that stood right next to the lodge.
The many wonders of nature and its providing quotients are well explained here – a simple mango tree, a source of shade and fruit to humans, a source of traditional food for elephants. So when the lodge was built, the mango tree was just a piece of furniture, but little did the world know that this one tree served as a traditional source of food for one family of pachyderms. In our own little ways, we affect the animal population so greatly that we alter the balance of life’s processes itself, sometimes irreversibly. The good news is that the elephants did not turn away from the path even when confronted by a stone building, and following years of tradition, went gallantly forward and ate their fill from the tree.
Today, this excursion forms a great attraction quotient, but in the long run, is this ‘inviting’ reception for the elephants good for them or us? The answer is no, because we as humans, assume that we are greater in strength and ability than the great black one. However, we need to remember that there is a very real phenomenon known as ‘elephant rage’ and it is a scourge to all those who encounter it. But the perpetrators of this behaviour are none other than those two legged encroachers of animal paradises – man.
We have invited these pachyderms to our backyard, but at what cost? An elephant has evolved from the great mammals of ages past, and we have to realize that these are wild animals in every sense of the word, even though the characteristics they exhibit may suggest otherwise. They will always have the will to succeed at any cost, to drink, eat and continue the bloodline – human or no human in their path.
Next, closer to home, take a look at this:
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1208754
This is an emotionally powered report in a newspaper which has two sides to it – the human and the animal. The report fairly weighs the balance in favour of the farmer in question, but the argument that could be raised, but was not, that is where did the elephant come from and was this farm in a migratory path or an elephant corridor? The answer is most likely to be a resounding yes!
However, with India’s population bursting at the seams, and yet to endorse underwater or outer space housing colonies to reduce the impact on land, we encroach on forest habitat that is extremely crucial to retaining the balance of nature. Hence at times it becomes more a factor of how to deal with the human rather than the animal. We need to come out with innovative and strict measures to offer to human settlers in order for us to achieve the greater good of retaining an animal habitat. In this case, a compensation was paid off to the family, but the land still remained where it was! This will invite future trouble and we’ll have another source of ‘jumbo menace’.
The report doesn’t mention whether the animal was a tusker, a lone male, a female or a unit. What it does say, is that he was trampled under the ‘mighty feet of an elephant’. Yes, true, but why not? Do you or I encourage a thief to make himself welcome in our own homes? If the answer is yes, then the elephant is to blame.
In our own distorted visions of increasing economic development across rural areas and forest areas, we are destroying very minute, but immensely critical, aspects of the natural balance that Mother Nature set in motion eons ago. Paddy fields, it is a well know fact, attract elephants. The irony here is that paddy is a great revenue turner in India’s coffers, being a major agriculturist economy. So we can’t stop paddy growth, but we can reduce paddy growth in areas bordering forests to reduce the impact of human-animal conflict. But this is easier said than done, and very well developed plans for relocation of croplands, farmers and settlements need to be implemented on the ground and also provide an equal footing in terms of monetary benefits to the people, and if possible raising the ceiling.
To rehabilitate habitats, it’s important to restore or preserve the current population as they are in, in the environment they inhabit. The very real problem is the human aspect and this is something that offers great hope because, we as humans, are rational people, if treated in the right way. Force sometimes is not the only answer. It is up to the genuinely concerned naturalists and conservationists to understand the relative impact of BPL and animal-human conflict and find viable solutions.
So, the next time you hear of ‘jumbo menace’, try and look at it from the animal’s point of view, that it is indeed a crime to the animal to take away from it, what it inherited, and if we still persist, there is a price to pay.
Conservation of India’s wildlife is paramount to her importance in natural resources, her USP to the world and will be her legacy.
