Why should we conserve our elephants?

Nilgiris: Just like how elephants in temple have a direct connection with people, elephants in the forest have a direct connection with the animals and trees in the forests. On this World Elephant Day, let us take us know why should we conserve our elephants.



Every year the 12th of August is celebrated as World Elephants Day. There are not many who do not know elephants. Be it kids or adults, elephants are quiet popular among all alike. But many do not know how elephants help other animals in the forest.



Adult elephants eat between 200 to 250 kg of fodder each day and walk upto 20 kms a day. Since their digestive tract is very poor, most of the food they eat, come out indigested. Only 40 to 50 per cent of the food is digested in two days. The seeds that elephant feed on are spread through its dung and help in seed germination and spreading of different species of trees in the forest.



Elephants also help quench the thirst of other animals during summer by digging out holes on the dry river bed. Made up of more than a lakh nerves, their trunks help to identify the sub soil water in the river underground. Elephants dug holes using their trunks and drink the sub soil water. Once the hole fills up with water, other animals quench their thirst with the stagnated water.



Apart from helping the animals with water, the elephants also dig out salt licks from underground. These salt licks give the essential nutrition to the elephants and the herbivores that feed on them. Thus most of the activities of elephants help other animals in one way or the other.



When the situation is such, the elephants that help other living beings are haunted by encroachments in the forests, which force them to stray into farm lands resulting in damage to crop and humans.



It is our responsibility to conserve the elephants that help preserve our natural resources for the future.