An elephantine challenge

MAN'S BRUTALITY TOWARDS animals was recently demonstrated in the very forests where once Jim Corbett shed tears every time he had to shoot a maneater. But today's hunters, nay hardcore poachers, go about butchering a creature as mammoth and magnificent as the elephant with no remorse or regret. Five of the species were recently killed in the Corbett National Park, and the sight of blood flowing down the streams there - which television managed to capture - merely strengthened the belief that man was capable of committing the most heinous of crimes for the most selfish of causes. And elephant poaching, essentially done for the tusks, is highly lucrative. A thriving market for the ``white gold'' in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand keeps alive a trade, which, though illegal, continues to flourish, largely because some African nations, notably Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, have too many elephants to cope with. Zimbabwe alone has about 65,000 of them, while it can, at best, accommodate half that number.

Although the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has upheld the ban - briefly lifted in 1997 after many years - on ivory sale, there is a suspicion that it does take place on the sly. The reason for this is clear: since even female elephants in Africa have tusks, unlike in Asia, where only the males sport them, and that too only some (the ``makhanas'' do not), the ``dark'' continent is virtually sitting on a pot of immense wealth. Frankly speaking, it is fed up of all this treasure, rotting away in its jungles and warehouses. Also, man- animal conflict there has led to crop destructions and frayed tempers, even deaths. One cannot entirely blame a Botswana or a Namibia if it wants to sell its ivory, but even a controlled relaxation, like the one in 1997, can sound the death knell for especially the Indian elephant. That year, for instance, poaching worsened.

If the number of Indian elephants has dwindled alarmingly - there are just 20,000 today compared with the 100,000 that once roamed the subcontinent - the male-female ratio is a ridiculous 1:20. Out of these 1,000-odd males, only a few hundred have tusks. It is this small herd that poachers try and zero in on, slaughtering, in the bargain, others, because live electricity wires are often used for trapping and maiming. The fact that it is almost impossible to distinguish between African and Indian/Asian tusks - scientists have not been successful till now in devising a foolproof method - has emboldened criminals in this country. Helping them is a system of wildlife protection which is an apology for the term. A shortage of vehicles, walkie-talkies and weapons continues to make a mockery of policing national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. As we saw at Corbett, the guards, despite their apparent determination, found it extremely difficult to nab the culprits. The battle is by no means easy, given the terrain, but there is a pressing need for a more realistic approach. There is certainly a necessity for many more guards, who have to be motivated through higher salaries and better facilities. They require guns, not lathis, and, above all, the terrifying risks they face in the pursuit of murderous gangs need to be taken into account and evaluated with sympathy and understanding when planners and administrators meet in airconditioned comfort. India's efforts to save its tuskers have an international dimension as well, and it requires some clever tight-rope walking. A slip can well mean more gore.

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