Innocent Elephant Dies

Institute for Natural Resources Conservation, Education, Research and Training, (INCERT), Bangalore was founded in the year 2000 by Dr Yellappa Reddy, whose is now the chairman of Bangalore Environment Trust (BET). The leading researcher S. Sridhar is also a trustee of BET. A small note on the DR Yellappa Reddy and S. Sridhar are at the bottom of the post

INCERT has been studying the man-elephant confrontation in and around Bannerghatta national Park since the mid-nineties. INCERT’s Investigative report is reproduced here with the permission of the author. 

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INCERT Report dated Monday the 1st July 2002, 

by S. Sridhar, S. Shreyas and N. Manjunath

Further to INCERT Field Report dated 29th June 2002, We regret to announce the tragic death of an innocent wild tusker in an operation to capture and translocate wild elephants from the Bannerghatta National Park, on Sunday the 30th June 2002

The Mistaken Identity

The officials were targeting a tusker, which had allegedly killed two people in recent weeks, near the Talghattapura, on the outskirts of the Bannerghatta National Park. On Saturday, three separate groups of forest watchers were sent to different parts of the park to locate the rogue elephant and this individual was noticed among a herd of four elephants, near the Soppinakunte area. On Sunday morning, a herd of three elephants were noticed at the Mettubande area of the Park, by the darting team. The group that was familiar with the rogue elephant was not in the vicinity, therefore they asked over the wireless set to give the description of the rogue elephant. Based on the description given over the wireless set, the tranquilizing party darted the innocent elephant which they thought fitted the description of the rogue elephant, and the rest is a history.

How did the elephant die?

The seven tamed elephants viz Arjuna, Abimanyu, Sri Rama, Harsha, New Tusker, Gayathri, and
Lily, were brought to Segekatte area on Sunday morning and the search for the rogue elephant began at 7.30 am. Officials went to Metubande area in their respective vehicles. Forest watchers informed the officials over the wireless about the movement of the herd at the Metubande area. The darting team headed by Dr. Chittiappa and Dr. Nagaraj of Hunsur, who were supposedly seated on the tamed elephant Arjuna, arrived at the spot and saw three wild elephants. The herd included a 22 year old large tusker, a 18 year old medium sized tusker and another 13 year old smaller tusker. The darting team asked for the description of the rogue elephant, which was the 22 year old larger tusker, over the wireless set and the party that was familiar with the rogue elephant gave the description over the wireless set. But the darting team mistook the 18 year old innocent tusker to the 22 year old rouge tusker and the tranquilizer gun was fired at the innocent tusker at 11.15 A.M.

On hearing the gunshot, two accompanying wild elephants panicked and started running, and the elephant that had received the dart also started running with them. After running about a kilometer, the herd came across a ditch measuring five feet deep and three feet wide, near the Aladamara Cross, adjacent to the Safari Road. Whilst the two elephants crossed over the ditch with ease, the darted elephant which was slowly losing its consciousness fell into the ditch and could not climb out.

The search operations were hampered by the presence of several thick bushes. Some watchers had seen the two wild elephants lurking behind these bushes and the search operations were further hampered. By the time the team spotted the darted elephant lying in the ditch at 12.15 P.M., it was too late. The officials pronounced it dead at 12.45 P.M.

The team had no idea about the terrain and the herd movement:

Many villagers who were present at the spot, felt that a wrong area had been selected for the operation. They said that the team ought to have waited for the elephants to move over to Suvarnamuki area which is flat and easy to track down the elephant after the darting. Much of the panic and confusion was due to the many contradicting orders given over the wireless to the search teams.

It is also learnt that the dosage ( 3 ml ) was prepared by Dr. Basavaraj, which was meant for the larger 22 year old rogue tusker. But the innocent tusker that received the dart, was only 18 years old and much smaller and perhaps there was an over dosage.

Many individuals who were present at the spot were of the opinion that the elephant capturing team that had arrived from various localities of the state, had no idea of the terrain of the National Park and the general movements of the herd. The official in charge of the National Park should have briefed the capturing team with maps and explained the herds routine movements to them, in detail. But no such briefings were held and this resulted in darting the wrong elephant, at the wrong time and the wrong place, the villagers felt.

National Park - A Cauldron for the wild elephants?

It is a paradox that a the elephants which are supposed to be given the maximum protection inside the National Parks, should be subjected to such cruel and brutal ordeals. The Bannerghatta National Park gained the notoriety as an abattoir for elephants, when a dozen elephants were eliminated in a short span of six months in 2000. It has become a cauldron for the wild elephants. Vast areas of the National Park were cleared in recent months to accommodate lions, tigers and bears that were confiscated from circuses etc. A dozen buses transect the National Park throughout the day, taking tourists to the lion and tiger safaris. About 7000 heads of cattle, goats, and sheep compete directly with the elephants for fodder inside the National Park, in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act. About 40 active quarries are indulging in blasting activities, despite a Supreme Court directive to cease the quarrying operation, in and around the National Park.

The Department has been recently sanctioned a sum of Rupees Six lakhs to capture four troublesome wild elephants from the park and shift them to safer places, or train and retain them for their services. One has already gone; three more ready to go?

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A small note on Dr Yellapa Reddy:

DR Yellapa Reddy retired as PCCF (Forests) and Secretary to Government of Karnataka. He served as the Secretary to the Department of Ecology and Environment from 1992 to 1995. The Karnataka High Court nominated him as a Conciliator in the High court Lok Adalat. He is also a visiting professor in the National Law School of India university, Bangalore.Has been involved in various environmental concerns for the past 50 years in Bangalore.

A small Note on S. Sridhar:

Was an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society. A noted bird photographer and publisher of “Newsletter for Birdwatchers”