The Plight of the Elephant!

The Plight of the Elephant

As human population increases, so does a need for extra food. This in turn necessitates more land to be brought under cultivation. This is alright up to a point. But when the expansion of agriculture encroaches into animal habitats, something goes haywire.
There are two consequences to this action, both detrimental to the environment. The first one is the large scale decimation of forests as it happens in the rain forests of the Amazon region, Asia and Africa with its attendant consequences of global warming. The second one is the human encroachment into the natural habitats of wild animals.
Global warming is not only the product of this evil tendency. When huge tracts of forests are turned into cultivable lands, wild animals are naturally forced to stray into those areas into which agriculture has made deep inroads. This in turn creates a conflict of interest between man and animal. As a result there are casualties on both sides. But in the final analysis, it is the animal that suffers most and that through no fault of its own.
We find extensive areas of forest lands fast disappearing around the world. For one thing such forests are public property so fair game for any landgrabber. For another The powers that be is aware of this but do nothing to stop this criminal practice. And the villain of the piece is the unruly farmer.
To cite an example of the process, let us proceed to the Western Ghats (Mountains) situated along the western flank of peninsular India. This extensive mountain range is literally the 'lungs' of South India. Elephants herds roam freely along these ranges. To the Indians, these animals are not like other ones like tigers. The huge animals are venerated, worshipped and are held as important religious icons.
Bu all these sentiments go up in the air, the moment the holy animal makes forays (termed ‘elephant raids’) into lands under cultivation adjoining forest lands. Then the poor animal is no longer “Lord Ganesha” but Satan in disguise.
Inevitably African elephants also fall prey to this process not to mention thousands of other animals
To make matters worse, the soap-opera TV channels exaggerate such encounters out of all proportions, both verbally and graphically. Time after time they accuse the poor animals of criminal trespass and mayhem. They ignore the fact that much more folk die in automobile accidents than in elephant encounters.
One would think that the government of the realm would do something about it. Oh, they let out a lot of hot air on the subject but do not do anything to solve the problem.
This beautiful Mother Earth does not exist solely for the existence of the inhuman specie called Homo Sapiens to lord it over as he likes. Man is just a Johnny-come-lately on the face of the planet. Animals like the elephants predate man and have existed on this blue globe for hundreds of millions of years. Animals do have first claim in their own respective habitats. There man is a trespasser and like any trespasser a criminal. Also, man considers many fauna pests, but he does not realize that he is the worst pest of them all.
So what shall be done to mitigate this problem?
First of all, farmers living in close proximity to forests should not cultivate crops that are delicious to elephants plates. Orchards and sugar plantations attract the mammoths like nobody’s business. They should also stop the inhuman practice of placing sharp nail-studded steel plates in their plantations to prevent them from straying into their land. Poisoning the majestic animals is another heinous thing that the farmers often resort to. They should be made to end this criminal practice by legal means if necessary.
The government should wake up to the situation and take measures to stop people from encroaching into forest land and if anyone does, he/she should be considered criminals and dealt with accordingly. If they cannot do it they should at least compensate for the losses suffered by the farmers.