The Elephant in the Room

The sight of wild elephants quite naturally results in soul-satisfying elation and a sense of wonder. Sadly, none of the images on these pages will soothe our souls

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God of auspicious beginnings, gardener of forests, wielder of great memories, these gentle giants have always been revered in India, and they have played an important part in our cultural and religious heritage. In more recent times, technology has given us the ability to damage elephant habitats that not just the pachyderms, but even human existence has been threatened by our poor planet management. This has predictably resulted in conflicts that are more complex than most people imagine, because elephants are intelligent, social animals, that in some ways mirror the behaviour of human societies. Through the ages, unless elephant migrations were interrupted, the pachyderms have not been recorded destroying their own habitats. Reducing the stressors between elephants and humans requires nuanced, sensitive interventions, and this involves long-term solutions, not quick fixes. We merely scratch the surface of the problems humans have caused across India, for the largest land mammals on Earth.

A Cruel Ride

According to a Right to Information (RTI) query dating back to 2019, India has 2,675 captive elephants. Most were captured from the wild as calves and domesticated for use in temples, for religious processions, zoos, for entertainment and tourism. Elephants are often transported over long distances in cramped lorries, causing much stress, dehydration, injury and trauma. Under Section 40 of the WLPA, the ownership, transfer and transportation of elephants across states require written permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden and under Section 48(b), no Schedule I and II species may be captured and traded without certification from the appropriate department. But loopholes are all too often found, sometimes intentionally created. We have rules that allow elephants to be inherited or gifted. This neatly allows a thriving trade to bypass laws that sound quite reasonable to the untrained eye.