Wild Elephants in India

Correspondent: On our travels down the Gunga, we have come across many
villages like this in west Bengal but few suffer as – soul does. Every year a
herd of wild elephants are enormously endangered species lumbers into
the paddy fields here in search of food trampling crops, homes and people
in the process.

Every year villagers and forestry officials coordinate their efforts using
fire balls, torches and firing guns in the air to keep the wild elephants
away.

At morning this year’s damage is being inspected.

Resident: We’re very frightened when the elephants come in tour village but we
can’t really do anything because we can’t leave and we trample our fields.
We try and drive the elephants out but this year the number has increased
and the damage is much greater.

Correspondent: Every year up to 100 people are killed by wild elephants as they
search for food and water. There are 25,000 elephants in India but their
natural forest habitat has been devastated as the human population and the
towns and cities have grown. Over 2-1/2 million acres of forest area they
traditionally migrate to and through every season have disappeared in the
last 20 years, the elephants having squeezed on almost every side.

A.J.T. Johnsingh: (Wildlife Institute of India)-The native threat to the elephants to
this part is only the growing amount of traffic. We have the railway track
which runs vital through this road where there 22 times train’s plight.
They all just try to habituate in this area.

Correspondent: The government’s response has been to set up project elephant. It
tries to ensure that the elephants have enough food in the wild to stop them
searching for food in towns and villages. It tries to stop any further loss of
forest habitat for the elephant and it’s trying to help the elephant
population grow by tracking down on poachers. That’s only been partially
successful. Every year dozens of elephants are still shot for the ivory so
more management work needs to be done.

Vindo Rishi SOT: (Former Director, Project Elephant)-The text include the changing
of attitudes of human beings. We’re becoming more and more
materialistic and just protecting the area is not going to help. The future
says that we have to manage this project as human attitude project in
relation to wild elephant project then we will be able to do something.