Indian Villagers Hurl Firebombs at Elephant and Her Calf for 'Damaging Crops’

For centuries, the Asian elephant was regarded as a cultural icon of India. But now, a large number of farmers and civilians view the giant land mammal to be a pest. This was again made evident when a mob of people in an Indian village brutally attacked an elephant and her calf with firebombs.

Two photographs recently surfaced showing elephants crossing a road. Behind them, an angry mob of men can be seen launching flaming missiles at the fleeing pachyderms. As reported by The Independent, the incident occurred in the village of Bishnupur, a remote settlement in West Bengal.

The compelling photographs were captured by Biplab Hazra. His goal being to showcase violence against the endangered species as it attempts to survive in smaller and more fragmented habitats.

Sadly, encounters of the sort captured in Hazra’s photographs are becoming increasingly common. The primary cause of conflict? Deforestation. As land is clear-cut, wild animals are left with less and less space to live. This is causing them to venture into territories occupied by humans.

As the images reveal, villagers are going to extreme lengths to drive elephants from their fields. The land is their livelihood, so one can understand the desperate attempts to scare away the elephants. However, to the observer, it is clear they, too, are simply victims of urban expansion.

Regarding the use of fire, Hazra told Caters News Agency:

“This happens because the villagers have to save their crops. There are many elephant corridors in human habitations. I’m trying to show this and spread my photos to increase public awareness on the matter.”

Each day, elephants spend up to 19 hours foraging for food. During this time, they also produce 220 pounds of feces. The elephant is a gargantuan land mammal that requires ample space to roam freely. If this need isn’t met, the elephants will continue to search for food elsewhere.

This reality needs to be realized by all, not only the Indian villagers who rely on the elephant’s dung to germinate their crops. To survive into the 22nd century, mammals will need the help of humankind. Discovering a tactic to resolve these conflicts is of the utmost importance. Otherwise, elephants — both African and Asian — may one day only exist in history books.

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Elephants crossing a railway track, Assam. India

Elephants crossing a railway track, Assam. India

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Speeding train kills elephant in Rajaji Tiger Reserve

A female elephant was killed after being run over by a speeding train in Rajaji Tiger Reserve on Tuesday, a forest official said.
The 35-year-old elephant was part of a group of 17 elephants crossing rail tracks parallel to NH-58 in Himalayan colony at 12:05 am on Tuesday when the high-speed Dehradun-Kathgodam Express was passing by, the official said.
While forest staff tried to alert the train driver, he did not slow down the train, resulting in the death of the elephant.
The death comes despite claims of preventive measures being taken by the Rajaji Tiger Reserve authority and railways.
Park patrolling teams were on duty near the accident site and manually signalled the train driver to stop.
Park employee Roshanlal said they tried to aware the loco pilot by showing torch light as there were more than a dozen elephants in human habitat area, trying to cross the railway track.
Rajaji Tiger Reserve director Sanatan Sonkar said it was a shocking incident for which both the park management and railways has been working jointly to curb such incidents.
“We are investigating this matter and if found guilty, we will file case against the train driver and are also taking steps to lessen such accidents by putting up censors and camera traps,” he added.
Another park official, on condition of anonymity, said many times train drivers don’t follow the minimum speed limit and take precautions.


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Indian rail officials turn to bees to save elephants

Patna: Railway authorities in India are playing the buzzing sound of bees along sections of the country’s tracks to save elephants from being killed by trains.

According to reports, more than 120 elephants were killed by trains between 2008 and 2017.



Authorities said the initiative has been launched in the Dooars region of Kishangnaj-Guwahati, which falls under the Northeast Frontier (NF) railways.

Under the project, the buzzing sound of bees is being played through speakers along the tracks at 27 points considered to be the most sensitive points.

The buzzing irritates elephants, meaning they will move away each time the sound is played as trains are moving on the track.

“We are trying hard to save the elephants from being knocked down on tracks in the elephant corridor and the initial experiment has yielded positive results so far,” the NF’s chief public relations officer Pranav Jyoti Verma told journalists.

Authorities took to this measure to protect the pachyderms after many of them came under the wheels of the speeding trains and were killed by crossing the railway tracks in the areas marked as “elephant corridor” in recent months, officials said.

The Dooars region of Kishanganj-Guwahati rail line is famous for elephants.

Reports said initially, rail officials made changes to train schedules, after studying the timings and routes of elephant migrations from one habitat to another.

They also blew horns repeatedly to alert the elephants crossing the track.

Subsequently, they limited the speed of the trains passing through the “elephant corridors” at night but failed to achieve the desired results.

Eventually, the railways adopted the buzzing sound idea.

Although the authorities used many elephant-repulsion techniques such as the chili bomb and electric fences in the past to drive them away from railway tracks, this buzzing sound has been the most effective and cost-efficient, officials say. It is a simple device that amplifies the recorded sound of honeybees downloaded from the internet.The device costs around Rs2,000 (Dh108) to set up and is audible to an elephant 600 metres away. NFR covers northern West Bengal and parts of eastern Bihar besides the northeastern states.




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Cow elephant dies after collision with lorry in Kota Tinggi

JOHOR BARU: A wild cow elephant died after it was hit by a lorry at Batu 13 Jalan Mersing-Kota Tinggi, near the Panti Forest Reserve near Kota Tinggi early today.

Director of the Johor Department of Wildlife, Jamalun Nasir Ibrahim, said the department was informed of the incident which occurred at about 2am by the lorry driver.

He said based on early information obtained of the incident, it was believed to have occurred after the lorry driver, who was travelling from Kota Tinggi to Mersing, suddenly switched on the high beam headlights when he came across a herd of four elephants crossing the road from the direction of an estate near the forest reserve.

“One of the elephants was startled and turned back towards the estate and was hit by a lorry which was travelling from Terengganu to Singapore.

“Following the collision, the elephant which was less than 10 years old, died at the scene due to serious injuries to the head,” Jamalun Nasir said when contacted today.

He said the department had moved the carcass of the elephant from the scene and buried it.

He advised all drivers not to provoke animals in the area by honking and turning on the high beam lights to not startle or provoke them. Meanwhile, Kota Tinggi District Police Chief Supt Ahsmon Bajah, when contacted, confirmed receiving a report of the incident. and said the lorry driver did not suffer any injuries.


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