Elephant Census
WILD elephants, according to a news reports have caused considerable damage
to the crops and properties of farmers of Ward No. 2 of Hasnpora VDC and Ward No. 2 of
Itahari Municipality of Sunsari district. News of wild elephants going on a rampage is not
new to Nepalese. More particularly to those living in the Tarai region of the country as
these pachyderms tend to forage in the lush forests located in the flat alluvial plains.
Since these animals are very much used to roaming at will in their natural habitats,
sooner or later, these behemoths have to face barriers like fences and walls erected by
farmers living around the vicinity of their habitats. As and when such an encounter takes
place, these pachyderms, due to their sheer size and weight, usually have the upper hand.
They would not only bulldoze such barriers from their paths but go on to feast on the
farmers’ standing crops. And whenever the farmers try to chase them away—there
is a total ban on killing elephants in Nepal—some rogues among the elephant herds
would not even hesitate to run amok through these villages, thereby leaving the villagers
more poorer in terms of precious lives and properties.
Elephants, like all wild animals, instinctively shun humans and give their
settlements a wide berth. But on the other hand, humans, in their quest for more arable
lands, are not known to be that shy in encroaching on these pachyderms’ natural
habitats, the forests. As such, whenever an elephant herd comes out from its habitat and
creates a havoc, what can be deduced is that either the elephants’ population is
increasing or that their natural habitat—the forest—is shrinking. Or, even both.
Since arable lands are definitely a premium in an agrarian country like Nepal, converting
them into forests to sustain the elephants is a difficult proposition. So too is starving
these innocent pachyderms to death by clearing their habitats, the forests. Hence, if both
the farmers and the elephants are to co-exist peacefully in their respective territories,
the concerned authorities must preserve the last remaining forests. Similarly, a
nation-wide elephant census is in order so that those in excess of these forests’
elephant sustaining capacities could be culled. At the same time, it would, through
culling, ensure further preservation of the remaining pachyderms in the forests for
posterity.
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