Coimbatore, Nov. 20
Even as stake holders are desperately trying to put an end to the rising man animal conflict, foolish attitude of people involved in elephant taunting is slowly aggravating conflict in Coimbatore.A recent video of an elephant flinging a man in the air a man in Kerala went viral on social media. Despite being a captive elephant, the animal did not seem to like the approach of the inebriated man, who attempted to climb on the tusker like the protagonist in the movie, ‘Bahubali’.
He was eventually flung a few feet into the air and he crash landed on the ground.
Luckily, the animal was tethered to a tree, which restricted its movement and prevented it from reaching the man. This is not the only recent case that nearly led to loss of life.
A few months ago in Coimbatore, a group of youth was chased out of the reserve by a rushing female elephant. The youngsters had attempted to take selfie with the animal that was standing inside the forest. The incidents go on to prove that be it captive or wild, elephants have neither been understood of their power, nor are they given adequate respect despite cherishing a cultural relationship with humans which extends beyond thousands of years.
Recently, three men were trying to take pictures in front of Kumki elephant Pari, even as Forest Department personnel were engrossed in the treatment of a wild elephant nearby. Senior officials from the department reprimanded the men.
The outcome of approaching a wild elephant is entirely different from approaching a captive elephant. Captive elephants are controlled by mahouts and fatalities can largely be averted. But, according to elephant experts, taunting a wild elephant would always have adverse results in the future.
“When people taunt elephants, they forget the fact that they are tampering with the natural behaviour of the animal. The animal starts developing a hatred for people as it is constantly being annoyed. And when the elephant decides to return the favour, the person who taunts alone may not be the victim,” said Ajay Desai, renowned expert on elephant behaviour recently.
Interestingly, Valparai, which has recorded no fatalities in 2016, saw a human death caused by elephants earlier this year. Elephant experts have attributed the death to the increased disturbance near the Aliyar reservoir at the foothills of Valparai.
Coimbatore, being surrounded by forests on the Western side, is also vulnerable to such incidents as the number of deaths has skyrocketed in the last few years. According to a forest department data, more than 23 elephants died in 2016. The number of humans killed by elephants was also more than 10 last year.
This year alone, 17 elephants have died so far, with more than 50 per cent being due to unnatural causes. More than 15 humans have also been killed by elephants this year alone.
Though, the deaths have occurred because of accidental encounters, deliberate encounters seemed to be the reason in some deaths.
Senior Officials from the department have said that necessary steps are being taken to curb such incidents. “We have our men to patrol the fringes and see if elephants are being disturbed by humans. We have also recently fined three youth, a sum of Rs. 5000 each for attempting to take selfies with elephants. Fine will be high in the coming days and such people could also be imprisoned,” said the official.