The Elephant Sanctuary, Hohenwald, Tennessee

A three-day international symposium on Human Elephant Relationships and
Conflicts began in Colombo yesterday. It was organised by the International
Elephant Foundation and the Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust of
Sri Lanka.

This is the first International Symposium of its kind to be held in Sri
Lanka which brings together elephant researchers from different backgrounds
all over the globe. The symposium seeks to exchange information, research
findings and conflict solutions from experts in the subject from around the
world.

Iain Douglas-Hamilton a guest speaker in his key-note address pointed out
that with the inexorable rise in the tide of human population and human
development reaching out into every corner of the world, Man is the dominant
encroacher of the elephant range, and human feelings and politics are the
ultimate determinant.

Douglas-Hamilton further emphasised that the chief question that faces
elephant researchers and conservationists was how research, surveys and
expertise be used to secure a future for elephants by translation into
pragmatic programmes. He therefore encouraged elephant researchers,
managers, keepers, conservationists and well wishers attending the
conference to think beyond and to consider how modern technology and
innovative thinking could help save elephants.

During the course of the symposium, fundamental problems such as
Human-Elephant Conflict, elephant biology, conflict mitigation, in-situ
management etc. will be addressed with the aim of finding solutions to
arrest the rapidly dwindling elephant population and for the ultimate goal
of Human Elephant Co-existence.

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Human-elephant conflict to be resolved - March 26, 2003
by Florence Wickramage
Sri-Lanka

The Department of Wildlife Conservation is planning immediate action to solve the Human-Elephant conflict in the North-Western and Southern Provinces where the problem is regarded as extremely severe, official sources told the Daily News yesterday.

According to statistics of the last ten years around 110 deaths of elephants and 60 humans occur annually in the Southern and North Western Provinces alone.

The Department is also studying the recommendations of the two workshops held at Anuradhapura and Hambantota on the conflict. The recommendations of the Hambantota workshop highlighted the necessity of driving to Lunugamvehera and Uda Walawe elephants who would be trapped in the Walawe area once the proposed Walawe Left Bank Project of the Mahaveli Development Programme gets underway.

Already the Wildlife Department has declared the Wilpattu-Karuwalagaswewa Corridor as the Tabbowa Sanctuary which would be connected to Kalalla-Pallekele as a strict domain of the elephants.

In the North-Western province the Minneriya-Kaudulla-Somawathiya Sanctuary would be connected to Ritigala and back to Minneriya to provide a safe habitat for the elephants. This project handled by the Wildlife Department is partially funded by the Protected Area Management Project (PAMP). A major part of the human-elephant conflict would be solved once these two projects planned for the North Western and Southern Provinces are completed which would save to a great extent the lives of both humans and elephants, sources said.

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Hunter gears up to shoot rogue elephants
March 24 2003
By Wsbir Hussain, IOL News

Gauhati, India - A hunter is wrestling with the ethics of killing two rogue elephants even as he tracks them this week inside the jungles of north-eastern India.

"Being an executioner and an activist involves a tightrope walk," said Dinesh Choudhury, a hunter and wildlife activist based in Gauhati.

He has been ordered to shoot the elephants that have killed eight villagers, trampled on crops and bamboo huts over two months.

'I placed floral wreaths on its body and performed rituals' "But if a particular elephant indeed turns out to be a liability, it is better to get rid of it," he said.

Choudhury, 59, has killed five elephants over the past seven years on orders from wildlife authorities. He is also a member of the Wildlife Advisory Board, a state body that advises the government.

"Whenever I have killed an elephant, I placed floral wreaths on its body and performed rituals myself before burying it," said Choudhury while cleaning a rifle he has used to kill elephants.

There have been an increasing number of elephant attacks on villages due to shrinking of their habitat as humans encroach into forests and illegally cut trees.

Villagers would earlier drive away marauding herds by beating drums or exploding firecrackers.

Now they poison the animals.

Forest Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said 27 elephants had been poisoned to death across Assam in the past two years.
Earlier this month an elephant was killed after a brutal spear attack by villagers in northern Assam.

The state has the world's largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants. The last elephant census in 1999 recorded 5 400 elephants in Assam, more than half of India's count of 10 000.

The two rogue elephants Choudhury has been ordered to kill strayed from their home in a rhino sanctuary, searching for food.

BM Chakraborty, a forest ranger, said sugarcane crops being harvested by villagers had attracted the hungry elephants.

He believed the elephants have since returned to the sanctuary.

"There has been rain during the past week. Grass and fodder is sprouting inside the reserve providing food for the elephants which was scarce," he said.

Choudhury has trailed the elephants' tracks into the forest. "The animals seem to have retreated deep into the forest away from human settlement," he said. "I might now be able to avoid shooting the elephants."

The two rogue elephants are an example of the growing conflict between villagers and animals for diminishing forest land, and authorities have begun a campaign to raise awareness of the elephants' plight. "There has been fragmentation in the elephant habitat due to human settlements. We are trying to improve the situation by evicting illegal encroachers," said Bordoloi. - Sapa-AP

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Tusker found dead near Alur
Deccan Herald
HASSAN, March 20, 2003

A wild elephant has been found dead in a field in Bembalur village in Alur taluk of the district, today. The reason for the death of the tusker, aged about 50 years, is not yet known. Post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow after the arrival of doctors from Hunsur, Mysore or Shimoga, forest conservator Somashekhar told the reporters.

The wild elephants were straying into villages due to lack of water and food in the forest. As it was not possible to stop all elephants from entering villages, the forest department would provide financial help to the tune of 60 per cent, to the people who come forward to install powered fences in their fields, said deputy forest conservator S Shekhar.

However the people here are angry with the forest department for not providing protection to them from the wild elephants. "From the last eight years, the menace of wild elephants in this part of the district is increasing. Recently a resident of Devarapur in Alur taluk was killed by an elephant. But the forest department doesn't seem to be bothered about people's protection," complain Alur - Sakleshpur Regional Development Committee President Ganesh. Sri-Lanka

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Tribals face death threat by tuskers
PRANAVA K CHAUDHARY, Times of India
March 17, 2003

PATNA: Thousands of tribals and Dalits, including women, are still living under constant threat of death by wild elephants who have been roaming in four blocks of the Dumka district in Jharkhand for the last two years. So far, as many as 17 people have been killed by the animals.

"We have given birth to our babies under unimaginable inhuman conditions on machan (treetops) and two of the babies already died without any medical care and assistance. We still are running for our lives with babies in arms without any medical aid leaving our homes on the mercy of the elephants," said dozens of victim families in a recent petition to the Jharkhand High Court.

Thousands of such villagers are still suffering from psycho-fear and started living on machan. The six pregnant women have so far delivered babies on machan and two of the babies have already died on spot. About 17 people have sacrificed their lives and several people have met with accident during elephant attack in various places of Dumka district.

The Agrarian Assistance Association (AAA), an NGO working with marginalised tribals and Dalits of Santhal Parganas, has been facing a tough challenge from several government agencies, including "timber mafia" and "forest government", in dealing with the situation.

"The local civil and forest administrations, who are primarily responsible for the safeguard of citizens' right, is neither listening victims problems nor thinking to push away the elephants," said AAA secretary Satyendra Kumar Singh. Till date, AAA claimed to have so far distributed Rs 1.51 lakh among victims through Gram Sabha.

Recently, thousands of local villagers, under the banner of Ghasipur Regional Federation, organised a road blockade on the Dumka-Pakur road for nearly 72 hours in protest against the administration's failure to provide rehabilitation. The local forest range officer, Kathikund, then lodged an FIR against secretary AAA and eight others for "organising and instigating the villagers for blockade". The forest official blamed secretary AAA for "promoting terrorism and using illegal methods to gather people's support".

Singh, a recipient of Indira Priyadarshini Briksha Mitra Award (1994), talking to TNN on Sunday said that FIR was lodged to defame his reputation. "We are campaigning for restoration of alienated tribal lands, against middlemen and timber mafia," Singh said. He further said that he has been paying heavy price for motivating tribals and Dalits for their rights in Santhal Pargana region.

Recently, a two-member team of the People's Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL) also visited the tusker-affected villages last week. They met with victims, officials of district administration, social workers and members of Gram Sabha.

The team urged the administration to be sensitive in the case of primitive tribe and provide relief among victims. Two PUCL members, namely Shashi Bhushan and Kishori Das, also urged the administration not to create obstacles in the work of AAA and Gram Sabha.

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Rangers kill marauding elephant
By KENYA NEWS AGENCY
Sunday Nation March 16, 2003

One of the three elephants which have been terrorizing people in Voi Town was killed on Friday.

Fear had gripped the residents of the Mabomani area in the outskirts of the town after the rogue elephant defied Kenya Wildlife rangers' efforts to herd it back to the nearby Tsavo East National Park.

The area was in a virtual curfew after the three jumbos broke out of the park. Two of them were driven back to the park without much hassle.

The district game warden, Mr James ole Perrio, assured the town residents that they will be protected from wildlife attacks even if it meant killing some of the dangerous animals that strayed from national parks.

Mr Perrio said 24-hour surveillance teams were on the ground in parts of the district that were prone to wildlife invasions.

Several lions, which have killed 43 cows and goats in various parts of the district over the past one month, would be sought and trapped.

The lions have left a trail of destruction in the Tausa, Bachuma and Bura areas.

Mr Perrio urged local residents and leaders not to politicise human-wildlife conflict but to also appreciate role of Kenya Wildlife Service in bringing it under control.

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Asiatic elephant gets capital punishment for killing 12 in Assam
IRNA
March 15, 2003

Guwahati-- Two wild Asiatic elephants in India's northeastern state of Assam have been given capital punishment for killing up to 12 persons after getting high on rice beer, officials Saturday said.

The Assam Wildlife department has issued a proclamation, declaring the two tusk-less male elephants as 'rogues' and entrusting a professional hunter to kill the animals before March end.

Wildlife wardens say the two elephants have wreaked havoc in and around Sootea, 240 kilometers north of Assam's capital Guwahati. "The two elephants have been smashing down huts, crashing through fields, and trampling people as they move around looking for rice-brew tipple," Madhav Deka, an elderly farmer said.

The death sentence by the authorities follows complaints by locals about wanton depredation by the pachyderms since the past one year -- mostly affecting sugarcane plantations and leading to loss of properties and human lives.

"We are passing sleepless nights with the elephant menace assuming serious proportions," said Bhogiram Das, a village youth. "It is better to kill the two elephants that are responsible for all the problems here."

But some villagers have now been pleading for mercy. "We don't want the elephants to be killed as people like us have forced the animals to go on a killing spree," Narayan Hazarika, a schoolteacher said.

The herd of some 100 elephants is believed to have crossed over into Assam from the neighboring state of Arunachal Pradesh, looking for food and water.

Dinesh Choudhury, a professional hunter and a noted elephant expert, deputed by the government to kill the two elephants, is not too keen to pull the triggers.

"I have been to the location twice and spotted the two elephants, both measuring about nine-feet tall," Choudhury told IRNA.

Choudhury had earlier killed five 'rogue' elephants on government orders in Assam.

Their drunken exploration has again highlighted the issue of how a depleting forest cover in the region was leading to more elephant encroachments of human settlements.

More than 100 people were trampled to death by the pachyderms in Assam alone during the past two years.

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Uwa Sets Measures for Animal Attacks
New Vision (Kampala)
March 13, 2003

Kampala - Measures to curb attacks on people and crops by Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) animals have been established, reports John Nzinjah in Mweya.

This was stated by the chief park warden QENP, John Bosco Nuwe, recently.

"The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the district local governments neighbouring the park have established "vermin guards", a force to prevent wild animal attacks on the people and their crops," Nuwe said.

This follows persistent complaints from the people living in the villages neighbouring the park that wild animals, especially elephants, baboons and buffalo were destroying their crops.

Last year, residents in Kyambura, Bunyaruguru sub-county in Bushenyi district complained of baboons attacking and wounding children going to school.

Reports from the area LCs said a number of children had been wounded in the attacks, some of them dying later.

Nuwe also admitted that there had at times been a shootout between game rangers and poachers especially on Kasese district side of the park. "We do this in self defence otherwise we are not supposed to kill any person," he said.

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Jumbos Invade Taveta School
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
March 10, 2003 Renson Mnyamwezi Nairobi

Mulilo Primary School, in Kishushe location, Taita Taveta District, faces imminent closure following an invasion by elephants.

Over 200 of the animals are a threat to residents besides destroying maize crops. The school headmaster, Mr Renson Mwacharo, said the beasts have disrupted learning at the school. Pupils are report at 9 am and leave at 3 pm for fear of being attacked by the elephants.

Mwacharo made the remarks at the school when local MP, Mr Mwandawiro Mghanga, visited the institution. He said parents had been forced to escort their children to and from school.

A parent, Mr Charles Wambogo, last Friday was hit by one of the animals while escorting his son to school.

Mwacharo said the jumbos had imposed a dawn to dusk curfew on locals and appealed to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to drive the animals away.

Mghanga, who was accompanied by five councillors, condemned the frequent human-wildlife conflict and urged the Government to find a permanent solution to the problem.

The Ford People legislator gave KWS one-week to drive away the animals failure to which he will mobilise locals to demonstrate against the Government.

He said residents may resort to traditional curling if KWS fails to get rid of the animals.

"We will not wait for the jumbos to kill and maim our people. We will instead kill the elephants as one way of protecting the residents," the MP said.

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Brutal capture of wild elephant caught on film
NDTV Correspondent
Wednesday, March 5, 2003

(Raipur): A new film shot by noted wildlife filmmaker Mike Pandey has shocking footage of a wild elephant being captured in the cruelest circumstances. The elephant eventually died.

Ironically, this capture was done by government of India's Project Elephant, which like Project Tiger was instituted in the country to save the endangered Asian elephant.

The tusker was lassoed, beaten and tortured in Chhattisgarh not by poachers, but by a team led by the famed Prabhati Barua, the much touted mahout from Assam.

"This is happening because of Project Elephant. The biggest mistake is that there is double darting, which should not be done," said Alamendu, Documentary Cameraman.

The elephant also had its tusks hacked off with a blunt saw after which it was kept without food or water for three days. Suffering from acute dehydration, it even tried to suck up wet mud before it died 18 days later.

Prabhati Barua has been involved in elephant control operations for over two decades and practices traditional capture methods like mela shikar or kheda.

She was paid Rs 36 lakh for this operation by Project Elephant. Both practices have a huge built in loss rate, but Barua stands by her method of capture.

"It is a big elephant and a wild one and he was angry," she said.

With large-scale deforestation in Jharkhand and Orissa where traditional elephant habitats and corridors have been decimated, many of these wild elephants have strayed over into neighbouring Chhattisgarh where they have come into direct clashes with the villages in the area.

But even the villagers were shocked by the brutality of this capture. "If this is what they were going to do, they could have just let us shoot it," said a villager.

Unless elephant habitats are protected and these outdated methods of capture abolished, these animals face as much threat from institutions meant to protect them as they do from poachers.

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Haven for Asian Elephant - February 28, 2003
China Daily
February 28, 2003

Deep in the lush rain forests that cover the southernmost part of southwest China's Yunnan Province, bordering Myanmar and Laos, live the remnants of the country's once abundant population of Asian elephants.

According to a report by Professor Zhang Li with Beijing Normal University, the total population of the Asian elephants in China is between 200 and 250.

Zhang is a member of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union.

The population has climbed considerably since the 1970s, when elephant numbers dropped to around 150. It has remained stable over the last 10 years, largely because of a crackdown on poaching, a forestation efforts and
continued conservation work.

Of the current population, it is estimated that there are 16-18 herds, or about 170-200 wild elephants roaming the mountain valleys, forests and grasslands in the Xishuangbanna Prefecture of the province.

Over the past two years, researchers in Nangunhe National Natural Reserve of Lincang Prefecture have been tracking the movements of six herds of 16 females and two bulls.

Meanwhile, a herd of five resident females and three drifting herds -- a total of 24 elephants -- were reported in Simao Prefecture. In recent times, conservationists from the three prefectures have made joint efforts to improve the living environment of the endangered species, listed under state first-level protection. However, conservationists in each prefecture are also facing their own unique challenges.

Xishuangbanna: Conflicts with Local Villagers

More than 80 percent of China's wild Asian elephants can be found in the Xishuangbanna National Natural Reserve, Huang Jianguo, deputy director of the reserve administration, told China Daily.

Founded in 1987, the reserve includes five protected zones and covers a total area of 247,439 hectares.

Besides Asian elephants, 20,200 people also live in 114 villages within the jurisdiction of the reserve. Another 144 villages are distributed around the reserve grounds, home to more than 32,000 residents.

"The human-elephant conflict in Xishuangbanna is more serious than that in the other two prefectures," said Huang. In the past few years, nine people have died and 49 have been injured by Asian elephants in the area.

"Last year wild elephants killed three people in Xishuangbanna," he said. Ten years ago, wild elephants were destroying about 5,000 rubber trees each year. But as the population has increased, so has the destruction. In 2001, the elephants wrecked about 365,200 rubber trees and trampled 7,885,000 kilograms of crop.

The damage cost the region US$2.35 million in economic losses for 2001. About 16,400 families spread through 38 townships have filed compensation claims with the government over crop and property damage caused by wild
elephants over the years.

"But we raised only 790,000 yuan (US$95,180) for compensation in 2001," Huang said. "That equates to about 1 jiao (US$1.2 cents) for each kilogram of crop loss."

"So how to resolve the conflict has been the biggest challenge we have been faced with," he said.

Supported by an international organization, electric fences were donated to 24 selected pilot communities to prevent wild elephants from entering the farmlands in Xishuangbanna in 1993.

Results varied from village to village, Huang said.

Success was reported in some villages, but in others, elephants quickly learned to bypass the electric fencing or remove the fence poles. Most villages were also plagued by problems with the solar-powered energizer, resulting from poor maintenance. The lack of success saw conservationists stop promoting the method.

In another bid to prevent crop destruction, the reserve's management authority once spent US$45,780 digging a 9-kilometer-long and 2-meter-deep ditch surrounding a village in the reserve.

But it was rendered useless after the following year's monsoon season. "Now we are thinking about putting more emphasis on helping local communities develop economically by adjusting their traditional production structure," he said. "But we are still looking for an answer."

Lincang: Changing Lifestyles of Ethnic Groups

For Li Yongjie, director of the Nature Reserve Management Office of the Lincang Forestry Bureau, the two major challenges for his conservation efforts are how to change the reserve's present condition as "an isolated ecological island" and how to reduce the threat of the local communities' traditional lifestyles to the reserve.

He said the only natural habitat of the Asian elephants in Lincang Prefecture was founded in 1980. It covers an area of only 7,082.5 hectares and is home to six herds of 18-19 wild Asian elephants.

The reserve also houses another 12 species of wild animals, also all under the state's first-level protection, including 3-4 Bengal tigers and about 15 white-palmed gibbons which only exist in the reserve in the country. "Theoretically, just one adult Bengal tiger needs at least 3,000 hectares of land to survive," Li explained. "The reserve is truly too small for all of the wildlife to thrive."

The situation is made more complex because the reserve is closely surrounded by villages and farmed lands.

"Many farming areas around the reserve were forests when the reserve was established," Li said. "So we used them as a buffer zone for the reserve." Along with an increase in the local population, the dense forests have gradually been reclaimed for farming. "So Nangunhe has become a reserve without a buffer zone, an isolated ecological island," he said. "It leads to a conflict between the humans and the wildlife living in the area."

To solve the problem and promote the genetic exchange of wild species, the reserve is planning to expand another 30,000 hectares.

The management authority has also considered helping some 1,000 residents relocate to other villages. At present, 15,000 people still live in the reserve.

"Because their traditional lifestyle is a major threat to the reserve," Li explained.

Most of people living inside and around the reserve are the ethnic Va people. Though they abandoned their tradition of animal hunting when the reserve was founded, they still practice a farming method known as
slash-and-burn. As a result, the reserve's buffer zone has almost vanished. Traditionally, the Va people would lay waste to a section of land for 10 or 12 years after only one year of use, a move designed to restore vegetation,
Li said. "But nowadays the rotation is usually two to four years."

To help the locals give up their old method of farming, the reserve is planning to raise funds to build 12 irrigation canals with a total length of 128 kilometers, to help the local communities create more paddy fields. "With more high-yield paddy fields, we expect the local people will give up reclaiming more low-yield dry land on the mountains," Li explained. To realize all the plans, Li said, the reserve first needs to improve the professional quality of its management staff.

"Most of our 42 employees' level of education is junior middle school," said Li Yongjie who graduated from Yunnan University in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. "So we need more outside experts to come and help our local
staff."

Simao: Expanding Habitat and Ecological Corridors

Unlike the elephants found in Xishuangbanna and Lincang which usually live in nature reserves, the only herd of five resident female elephants found in Simao stay in cultivated areas. "Their conflicts with the local communities
are intense too," said Zhang Li, who is also country director for China of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

To create an ideal habitat for the herd of elephants, increase the locals' tolerance of elephant-related damage and alleviate the ensuing conflicts, IFAW joined forces with Simao Forestry Bureau and launched a three-year
conservation project in July 2000.

With an investment of more than US$175,000 from IFAW, the project is easing the economic pressure on local farmers caused by elephant destruction of property and crops by providing "micro-credit" loans.

More than 370 families in seven pilot communities established their own funding groups by pooling together loans and their own pledges. The loans enable each family to choose an alternative farming venture, such as cultivating tea or raising stock, to help alleviate the economic burden of living within the reserve.

Although the destruction by the elephants continues, Zhang said, many families have been able to recoup losses by shifting their traditionalfarming methods. Their tolerance of elephant damage and environmental awareness have been greatly enhanced.

Although the project is developing into a successful model, the local forestry bureau and IFAW still have to face a problem that is restricting the development of the herd.

According to the biologist, the herd of five females including two adult and three young have not reproduced since they moved to the areas from Xishuangbanna, only 70 kilometers from Simao, in 1996.

"That means they might fail to have a chance to have contact with the bull elephants," he said. "That also means the ecological corridor they once used to reach Simao from Xishuangbanna has been disrupted by human activities." As a result, he said, "we have to restore the ecological corridor and help the herd multiply in our future work.

"Otherwise, our present work will be rendered meaningless."

Joining Hands

Fortunately, management authorities in the three prefectures have begun working together to ensure the entire population of the country's wild Asian elephants live better.

According to Cao Yigong, an official with Simao Forestry Bureau, the management departments of the three prefectures began cooperating to apply for a fund of 130 million yuan (US$15.7 million) from the State Forestry
Bureau to launch a cross-regional Asian elephant conservation project last year.

Under the project, more than 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million) will be used to improve capacity building of nature reserves in the three prefectures. About 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) will be used to develop wild elephants' habitats and build ecological corridors to connect fragmented habitats for elephants. A sum of 18 million yuan (US$2.2 million) are expected to be earmarked for community development.

Last October, the draft plan of the project was examined and approved by the State Forestry Bureau's expert committee. The three departments obtained 350,000 yuan (US$42,168) to draft a plan for the project's inception.
Following this, the representatives of the three departments and IFAW including Huang Jianguo, Li Yongjie and Zhang Li attended a meeting held in Simao on January 27.

During the meeting, the three departments decided to conduct a joint scientific survey to learn more about the present situation of the wild population of Asian elephants in the country in the first half of 2003. IFAW
offered to invite experts from Beijing and Kunming to hold training courses about GIS (Geographic Information System), survey and monitoring for the three prefectures in early March.

"We really expect the cooperation will finally bring a better future notonly to the country's wild Asian elephants but also to the local ethnic communities," Zhang Li said.

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South India looks north as poaching threatens elephants
Shaikh Azizur Rahman in Chennai, India
South China Morning Post
February 26, 2003

Indiscriminate poaching has almost decimated the bull elephant population in southern India, forcing wildlife authorities to import bull elephants from the northern part of the country.

According to S. S. Bisht, the director of Project Elephant, this is the first time such a large-scale transfer of elephants has been planned in India.

"Uttaranchal a north Indian state has agreed to send some of its bull elephants to southern states to save the Asian elephants from extinction," he said. Ivory poachers in India target bull elephants as - unlike the African variety - only male Asian elephants have tusks.

According to wildlife experts, in an ideal situation, there should be one bull elephant for every four cows. But in worst-hit southern states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the ratio has deteriorated to an alarming one bull for every 75-100 female elephants.

"The sex ratio among the elephants in south India has been so badly skewed that special measures will have to be taken to restore the balance," Mr Bisht said.

The elephant sex ratio in the Jim Corbett and Rajaji national parks, at the foothills of the Himalayas in the north from where the bulls are to be shipped, works out to one bull for every two cows.

Maneka Gandhi, a former minister of environment and head of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in India, says elephants are going extinct in India.

"Ten years ago, India had 5,000 bull elephants. But now, only 800 of India's 20,000 elephants are bulls.

"It means there are only 800 inseminators and they are being killed all the time. In want of sufficient bulls, the reproductive process of the wild pachyderm population in the country is being affected grimly."

Managers of 25 Indian wildlife parks met recently in the north Indian city of Dehradun and discussed ways to check the dwindling elephant population.

"India has been losing about 300 bull elephants every year. Ivory poachers have been hunting them down indiscriminately. Half of them are killed in south India alone," said S. Paulraj, warden of Mudhumalai Elephant Sanctuary in Kerala.

In a recent documentary commissioned by the National Geographic Society, conservationist Vivek Menon exposed how Indian ivory was being smuggled into Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and some west European countries through the Middle East. In the docmentary, Mr Menon, the executive director of Wildlife Trust of India, posed as a Dubai-based ivory supplier while a hidden camera showed him dealing with ivory traders in Taipei, Hong Kong and Osaka.

The documentary also showed how poachers, believed to be accomplices of Indian bandit Muniswamy Veerappan, were involved in hunting down tuskers in south India.

Most believe that poaching by Veerappan's gang has affected the Indian tusker population the most. His group is believed to have killed more than 2,000 bulls in the forests of south Indian states in the past two decades.

The habitat of wild elephants used to extend from Syria and Iraq in the west to the Yellow River in China.

Now, according to the World Wildlife Fund, "it is only found from India to Vietnam, with a tiny besieged population in the extreme southwest of China's Yunnan province".

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Elephants may get their own jungle 'highway'
Newindpress.com
February 24, 2003

KOLKATA: Wild elephants in West Bengal may soon have their own travel corridor through the jungles to help them avoid contact with humans that often result in casualties on both sides.

Forest authorities are drawing up plans to give the elephants their own 'highway' that they will hopefully adhere to while going from one forest range to another.

"The government has been advised by wildlife experts to create a corridor for the movement of the elephants. The old corridors are shrinking due to the spread of human settlements in jungles," Forest Minister Jogesh Burman told IANS.

The state's southern districts -- Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura - are home to hundreds of wild elephants. The region is witnessing a violent tussle for existence between poor villagers and elephants because of shrinking forests.

This week a rogue tusker killed five people. Foresters are looking for it to shoot it down.

Herds of elephants from the Dalma forest in neighbouring Jharkhand state come down every year to the villages along the West Bengal-Orissa-Jharkhand border in search of food.

They destroy ripe paddy crop besides trampling down huts. Villagers chase away the animals by exploding crackers, beating drums and waving flaming torches.

But with every passing day, the elephants seem to lose their fear of these objects. Experts say the frequent confrontation between man and animal was the reasons for the elephants' newfound courage.

These repeated confrontations have also taken their toll. While around 20 people die from elephant attacks every year, the forest department has come across evidence of poisoning of the animals by villagers.

Authorities hope that by allowing the elephants free movement, they can bring down their contact with human beings.

Also, the forest department is considering giving wild elephants a home of their own. The plan is to build a habitat for elephants so that they do not stray into villages.

The proposal for the Rs.1 billion-habitat has been sent to the central government for approval. It is hoped that that the elephants could be lured into the habitat where they would have easy access to food and water.

A hilly tract of land in Kakrajhore in Midnapore (west) district, some 150 km from here, has been earmarked for the habitat. Authorities plan to build some reservoirs in the sanctuary. Water for the reservoirs will come from the many rivulets and streams that flow in the area.

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A paradise lost for elephants
The Hindu
By R. Krishna Kumar
February 21, 2003

MYSORE A tragedy of mammoth proportions is unfolding at the Kabini backwaters as hundreds of elephants that continue to arrive here in anticipation of fodder are greeted with bone-dry forests and water holes.

In the absence of adequate water, the unfolding scenario has intensified the man-animal conflict as the elephants have started entering agricultural fields and human habitation. With the competition for meagre resources between elephants and the local population on the fringes of the forests, the villagers' patience is running out and they are increasingly turning against the pachyderms.

The pressure from cattle that graze in the forests hasten the depletion of fodder for herbivorous animals and steps to combat it is greeted with acts of reprisal such as setting ablaze large tracts of forests. Near Sargur, a mob of 60 farmers surrounded a hapless elephant that had strayed into a village in search of food and water and threw stones at it. Similar incidents have been reported from Hediyala, Nanjangud, Kollegal, and Mullur.

The Kabini backwaters lie in the migratory path of elephants and other wild animals that criss-cross through the Bandipur-Nagarahole-Mudumalai-Wynad belt every year resulting in the biggest wildlife congregation in Asia. The reservoir is a source of water to the animals in the region while the gradual depletion in the water level in it following the retreat of the South-West and the North-East monsoon facilitates the growth of grass between November and January.

This also synchronises with the annual migratory movement of the elephants, and the presence of food and water in abundance helps them for their onward march across the jungles. It was a paradise for the wildlife. But drought in the region for three consecutive years has depleted the waterholes and backwaters and there has been no fresh grass in the past two years during the migratory period.

The onset of summer has compounded the issue as the spectre of forest fires is now looming large over the entire Niligiri Biosphere belt, and it is feared that even the bark of trees will not be available for the elephants once forest fire breaks out. Between Nagarahole and Bandipur, there are over 200 waterholes of which, only a few may have sufficient water for animals. The other major and perennial sources include the Moyar, the Lakshmanthirtha, and the Nugu, which will be dry during this season every year. But the backwaters of the Kabini Reservoir came in handy for the animals to tide over the crisis every year.

However, the Kabini Reservoir was emptied this year and the available water is drying up fast. The elephants continue to march here in anticipation of water, covering long distances from as far as BRT Sanctuary, Kollegal, Bannerghatta, Brahmagiri, and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu, and Wynad in Kerala, during the course of their migratory movement.

The overcrowding of animals near the waterholes is bound to lead to territorial conflicts and as a result dominant herds will drive away the smaller ones to establish their authority over the area. This will have a bearing on the animals as a large number of them, mostly elephant calves, may not survive the ordeal and live through the summer in the absence of fodder and water. Conservationists fear that the coming summer may prove to be crucial for elephants that are on the brink of extinction. Degradation, fragmentation, and encroachment of habitats have restricted the elephants' movement as a result of which there is a possibility of genetic inbreeding within the herd. Degradation of forests due to unrestrained grazing by cattle and frequent forest fires added to the trauma of the elephants. While the former is a direct competitor for fodder, outbreak of fires has led to dominance of fire-resistant species that are not edible.

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Nepal attacks migrating elephants
Ananova
January 28, 2003

Nepal has posted armed security guards along its eastern border to prevent the entry of migratory elephants from India.

Nepalese forest guards in several watch towers are throwing stones, firecrackers and firing blanks at a herd to stop them from crossing over into Himalayan kingdom.

By preventing the animals from entering into Nepal the Nepalese forest officials are splitting the Mechi Ecological Zone.

The forest is spread across Nepal and West Bengal. For decades elephants from eastern India have been migrating to the Nepalese part of the forest in different seasons of the year.

"It means the natural habitat of the elephants are shrinking. Also, the gun fires could terrorise many elephants by forcing them to turn rogues and attack people in forest-side villages in India," said Jogesh Barman, the forest minister of West Bengal.

"The elephants are not identified by any nationality - they are not Indian elephants."

As many as 300 elephants from Indian states of Assam and West Bengal migrate to Nepal annually.

A source in the West Bengal forest department says that a big herd of about 70 elephants have just been scared away into the Indian forest.

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Indian Elephants Attack Photographers
By Habib Beary
BBC reporter in Bangalore
January 17, 2003

Cameramen hoping for some exclusive photographs have been attacked by rampaging elephants in the Indian state of Karnataka. It happened after the cameramen attempted to photograph the elephants while they were hiding in the forest.

Earlier, the elephants were believed to have gone on the rampage near a national park destroying a banana plantation and a crop of pulses on Thursday.

Forest workers are now trying to drive the elephants away from the area, close to the state capital, Bangalore.

A total of five people were injured, including two villagers and the three cameramen who went too close to photograph the elephants.

Senior state forest official, BMT Rajeev, said it is happening more regularly as the animals' habitat is rapidly taken over by residential and office complexes.

A young local villager, Balaram, had offered to escort the cameramen and took the group towards a eucalyptus grove where the elephants were hiding.

But they got too close for comfort.

The elephants charged, knocked Balaram to the ground and attacked the cameramen.

Hearing their screams for help, local villagers rushed to rescue.

Police said the injured were being treated at a nearby hospital.

Forest officials say elephants have been straying near the city for the last couple of years because of fragmented forests and clogged elephant corridors.

A bus driver was mauled to death by a herd at a village near Bangalore last year.

And at least six people have been killed in the last two years by elephants.

Cultivation has spread over the last few years - shrinking elephant territory in the Bannerghatta-Anekal forest region which stretches on some sides into neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka has around 6,000 elephants according to a survey conducted last year.

BMT Rajeev said: "Last year, we had elephants straying well into the city. The elephant corridor has to be widened to prevent such incidents."

His department spends over 100,000 rupees yearly on firecrackers to drive out elephants from entering Bangalore. But help seems to be at hand.

A leading science institute is looking into a warning system for farmers to alert them to the threat of marauding elephants.

The project is expected to be ready by October 2003.

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Rising Poaching Undermines Case At Cites
Zimbabwe Independent (Harare)
January 17, 2003
By Ndamu Sandu

LAST week's poaching of four black rhinos in an Intensive Protection Zone in the Sinamatela area of Hwange National Park will further undermine government's standing in regard to the Convention on International Trade Endangered Species (Cites).

Conservation sources this week blamed the poaching on illegal settlers and bemoaned the lax security in the area, which is supposed to be highly-protected.

Mines, Environment and Tourism minister Francis Nhema confirmed the poaching when contacted for comment.

"I can confirm that the four rhinos were killed by poachers whom we are hot on the trail of," Nhema said.

He however dismissed suggestions that security was lax in the area.

"Poachers can hit whether there is security or not," he said.

Government's relations with Cites have been frosty since 1998/99 after the environmental body refused to downlist elephants from Appendix I to II, to enable trade in ivory. Government on the other hand has been demanding the
right to trade in ivory saying the increase in the number of elephants and rhino was decimating forests.

Elephant and rhino horns are the main targets of poachers.

The latest poaching incident flies in the face of a government policy document promoting sustainable wildlife management as an integral part of the land reform programme.

The Zimbabwe Independent revealed last year that poaching in Lowveld conservancies had destroyed 60% of the wildlife.

Settlers have taken up plots in conservancies which were created to protect endangered species. Game has also been under siege on resettled farms.

The government document was crafted in July by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management in tandem with two internationally-recognised wildlife conservation groups.

It is estimated that 50% of Zimbabwe's wildlife has been poached in the last two years, which has cost the country at least $6 billion in lost tourism and Safari revenues.

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Village on guard after elephants kill 12
iafrica.com
13 Jan 2003

Police have been deployed to guard villages in the hills of southeastern Bangladesh from marauding wild elephants that have killed at least 12 people, officials on said Monday.

Police have been told to keep vigil and warn panic-stricken villagers of any incursions by the elephants, which cross into Bangladesh from the forests of neighbouring India in search of food.

"We have asked the local police to take measures for protecting the villagers from wild elephants in remote areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts," Abdul Khaleque, a senior police officer in Chittagong, told AFP.

Villagers say some 20 people have been killed by the elephants over the past two months. Officials confirmed 12 deaths and said homes and crops have also been destroyed.

Police are urging the villagers to be careful not to anger the tuskers.

"The wild elephants have become furious possibly because their natural habitats have been disturbed by growing human population," said Shamsul Alam, a forest officer in Rangamati.

Villagers have tried to drive the animals away by setting off firecrackers or hurling stones, only enraging the elephants who return with a fury and destroy homes and rice paddy fields, said Abul Bashar Mia, another forest
officer.

He said forest officials are not allowed to harm the wildlife, but that police have fired blanks to try to scare the elephants away.

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Elephants Wreck Havock in Kibwezi
Daniel Nzia, East African Standard
January 12, 2003

Marauding elephants have invaded parts of Kibwezi constituency in Makueni District.

Area MP Kalembe Ndile yesterday complained that more than 20 rogue elephants have destroyed crops in the past few days.

Ndile said the bumper harvest local farmers were expecting may now be a dream.

The MP threatened to lead his people in killing the elephants if the Kenya Wildlife Service dos not act fast.

He appealed to the KWS to drive the elephants back to the Tsavo East National Park from where they have strayed to stop further destruction. "We have been complaining about the frequent invasion and destruction of farm
produce by the marauding elephants for long and we shall not tolerate this menace any more," he said.

He called on the Government to allow people evicted from Kyulu Hills several years ago to resettle on their former farms.

Kalembe claimed the people were evicted on political grounds adding their strong support for the Opposition then cost them their land.

The elephants have destroyed maize, beans, and other farm produce at Kikunduku, Kyaani, Metava and Nzouni villages in the area.

Kinyanmbu-Utithi ward councillor Joseph Kabutha has also expressed concern over the elephants menace saying parents were being forced to escort children to and from school following the invasion.

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Elephant found dead in Assam
TEZPUR, January 6, 2002
OuttlookIndia.com

The body of an elephant was found at Debisinghghat of Assam's Sonitpur district near here today, police said.

According to police, the 11-year-old female elephant was suspectedly killed by irate villagers after their crop was destroyed by the wild herds.

With today's incident, the number of elephants killed by the villagers in last 45 days in the district rose to eight.

Last year at least 44 elephants were poisoned to death allegedly by villagers.

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