Wildlife wardens order shooting of rouge tusker in Uttarakha

[xl_target]

the basic problem is population explotion.
expanding population needs more space and so is the conflict,unless and until this is rectified,it will happen again and again.
look at europe ,they have so much space to live,conserve,hunt and still live in harmony with nature.
hope some day our lawmakers look into this!
regards

Keep in mind what happened when the owner of the private zoo killed himself (here in the US), the animals hadn't hurt any humans but there was a chance that they might, so most of them were killed. It doesn't matter where you are; in Europe, the US or India. Any loss of our flora and fauna diminishes us all but if there is a maneater or a rogue threatening humans, most civilized societies will put down the animal.

There are many people siding with the elephant here and of course, he does deserve some sympathy as he doesn't know what kind of a response his actions will provoke. Unfortunately, in any man versus animal conflict, the animal will invariably lose.

Many of us here bemoan the fact that the Government is unable to protect its citizens. Here the government is taking steps to do so and we will have a lot of people criticizing them (on this forum and otherwise). We can't have it both ways. While all the facts stated above are true (habitat loss, encroachment, etc), I for one wouldn't want my child or relatives in the path of this rogue. If I lived in the area, I would definitely want the authorities to remove this menace because my family would come first and and I wouldn't care much about offending the sensitivities of nature lovers.

[prashantsingh]

I almost started the story here but in two days the orders were cancelled.
Pressure from NGOs and citizens, forced the CWW to cancell the Hunting down of the Rogue.
A team of scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India will now track down and traquilize the Tusker.

I met Singh at a Forest Rest House on the outskirts of Rishikesh and spent a couple of days with him.
He had made up a plan. He would track the tusker from dawn to dusk.
Unlike a (maneating) leopard hunt , an elephant hunt would be very dangerous after dark.
"Raat me haathi ke peeche jaane ka matlab .......Maut ko dawat dene jaisa hai." He told me.
This is actually true.
Twice, I have driven very close to elephants on dark nights and realised there presence only after coming really close to them.

The first day was interesting. Spoke to some locals who claimed to have seen the Rogue. Some said he was a Tusker. Some claimed he was in Masth. There was one guy who swore he was a Dairh daant ka haathi ( tusker with one broken Tusk) and
an old lady who discribed him as "Big,Black and Powerful".
Which elephant was NOT "Big Black and Powerful ?".....I wondered.

Anyways before the Hunt could actually start ....It was over.
KILLING the Animal is the LAST OPTION.
Singh spent a few more days at the Rest House before finally packing up and going home (yesterday). He was there as a back up.
Just in case something went wrong.

How does one identify a Rogue from a normal Tusker in a 820 square kilometer jungle ?
Here is a simple chart which every one can follow.

[prashantsingh]

26-11-2011
"In yet another case of man-animal conflict in Uttarakhand, a tusker today killed a labourer in the Corbett National Park . The labourers were engaged by Forest Department for constructing a check dam in Dhaulkhand Compartment-14 in Sona river forest range. Today, while the labourers were working, a tusker suddenly charged towards them. While the others managed to flee, the elephant picked one of the labourers in his trunk. The pachyderm dashed the man against ground repeatedly, killing him on the spot. Police have sent the body for post-mortem."

This is a different elephant. Not the one operating in the jungles of Rishikesh.

[prashantsingh]

Rishikesh Rogue strikes again.

The Rogue elephant in Rishikesh took his 6th victim yesterday. An old lady who was trampled to death near the Bibiwala forest area.
The team of scientist with their "dart guns" have not yet been able to locate the rogue.
Two attacks in the state on the same day.
One in Corbett . The other near Rishikesh.
Though the Corbett Tusker gets the benifit of doubt , simply because he was within the forest range . It is high time the one in Rishikesh is terminated.
I wonder what the PFA and other animal rights organisations have to say now.
I also wonder how many more lives the rogue will take before he is finally ordered to be shot down.

[dev]

Maybe we should get the PFA people to go and talk nicely to the rogue. That way both would get what they want. The rogue something new to squish and the PFA people a martyr who talked to the nice 'Ellie'.

[prashantsingh]

An update on the Rogue.

29-11-2011
The Rishikesh Rogue attacks and injures a female elephant called "Gomti". Gomti is one of the three elephants who has been brought from Corbett to track the Rogue.
The Wildlife team manages to tranquilize the Rogue. The dose given is inadequate and before anything can be done the Tusker gets up, breaks the boundary wall and runs away.
Thankfully he does not attack any of the team members else the results would have been catastrophical.
30-11-2011
Three teams of forest officials are out looking for the fellow...and have no clue as to where he has vanished.

[hvj1]

You know why, elephants are not given voting rights? Because they might elect a rogue tusker to the parliament,

[goodboy_mentor]

Ha ha ha! this tusker is behaving like the anti social elements and knows how to escape from custody!

[prashantsingh]

Went to Rishikesh for the week end.
A team of experts has come from Assam to tranquilize the Rogue . They have also managed to identify the Rogue.
Met a gentleman called Mr Kalita from Assam who has been working with elephants for a long time. He has more than 40 elephants of his own.
What was even more interesting to know ,was that he is a good friend of an I.F.G member "Nitro Express".
It's a small world.

[goodboy_mentor]

Owns forty elephants! Does he do some kind of business with them? Otherwise it would cost a lot to feed and maintain idle elephants.

[prashantsingh]

Yes . Mr Kalita runs a resort.
Nitro Express can tell us more about his friend