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Elephant
(Elephas maximus), familiarly known in India as Gajraj is world's the largest
terrestrial mammal. It is inextricably linked with Indian history, folklore and
religion. For centuries the elephant has retained its status as a special species
whether in wild or captivity and is considered a symbol of fertility, wealth and
abundance. The elephant headed God Lord Ganesh or Ganpati is worshipped throughout
India as the God of wealth and wisdom.
The elephant requires much a larger
home range than any other terrestrial animal, therefore, it is usually one of
the first species to suffer the consequences of habitat fragmentation and destruction.
The historical and present day distribution of the elephant in the India sub-continent
is in many ways mirrors the progressive deterioration of the environment in the
sub-continent. Whether this deterioration is all man made may be open to question
but there is total unanimity about the need for prevention of further degradation
of the elephant, its habitat and allied species which in turn will help preserve
the quality of soil, water regime and other life supporting processes in nature.
The
state of West Bengal comprises two distinct geographical ranges of elephants.
The northern elephant range-located in the sub-Himalayan foothills, mostly in
the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri Districts. Elephants in this range are generally
residential but some inward and outward movements take place through contiguous
landscapes across interstate and international boundaries.
Contrary
to the northern elephant range, the southern range is mostly constituted by the
migratory flux of elephants coming from Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, Bihar. There
are however, few scattered individuals/groups, mostly males which remain throughout
the year in West Bengal.
The
first systematic assessment of the wild population was undertaken in the year
1975 to record status, distribution, movement and conflicts of northern range
of West Bengal. This indicated presence of three separate elephant populations
in North Bengal, viz,(a)West of Torsa, (b)East of Torsa and (c)one seasonally
transient from Assam. The West of Torsa population has no linkages with Bhutan
and very little with augmentation from Assam/Bhutan.
| …
saving the
elephant
saves the environment… | The
West of Torsa population is most threatened because of the habitat fragmentation
and pocketed populations.
The Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department
undertakes regular census and monitoring of the wild population and the population
estimates in April,'86, Feb,'89 and Feb/Mar,'92 showed figures around 140, 173
and 186 respectively. The last count of the population in Nov.1996 showed a population
range between 225 to 240 animals.
Click
for a elephant
distribution map...
In
North Bengal major conflicts of elephants take place either in tea gardens or
in the crop fields. A number of human deaths do take place each year (around 40
to 45) due to this conflict and is unfortunate. The wildlife wing has "wildlife
squads" based at strategic places in North Bengal to try and mitigate the depredation
by the wild elephants. The government also pays compensation for the damages caused
to the crop and the property; it also pays ex-gratia for the human deaths.
The south Bengal elephant range extends from the districts of Purulia in
the west to
| Human-
animal conflict
increases as elephants
migrate |
Midnapore
in the east and south and Bankura in the North. This range gets augmentation from
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary situated 50 Km west from its western limit. A scattered
group of residential elephants, however, remains in the range throughout the year.
There are records that the elephants from the Dalma Sanctuary in Bihar
used to take place in the past but was always restricted to the west if Kanshabati
river. The first long distance movement of the elephants from Dalma to the east
of Kanshabati river was recorded in the year 1987. The exploratory movement of
the elephants (around 45 in number) in successive years continued and expanded
deeper and deeper to the east.
The recolonisation of elephants in the vast areas of South Bengal, migrating
from Dalma is a major cause for the increased conflict with the local population.
To tackle this situation several steps were initiated by the Forest Department
to stop the elephant movement beyond the Kanshabati river but all of them failed.
In 1995, capture and removal of some elephants was though as a strategy to tackle
the conflict. A total of 7 elephants were removed from the population, the impact
of which though not totally evaluated, had a beneficial effect on the whole issue.
Thereafter, the elephants were gently guided and allowed to chart their own territory.
With less disturbance to the panchyderms the magnitude of depredation also got
controlled.
However, the most understanding role has been played by
the local people who have now come to accept the elephants as a part of their
environment. The migratory herd of elephants kept on exploring new territories
and in 1999, they for the first time crossed over to Simlipal Tiger Reserve in
Orissa. It has been reported that after spending some time in the lush green environment
of Simlipal, the elephants have again moved back to Dalma. What route they would
adopt in the millenium year is a matter of conjecture!
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