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| India-Pakistan |
| The jumbo ‘toll’ collector |
| 2008-06-20 |
| No truck driver plying on the Haatgamria-Baraiburu road in Jharkhand can escape without giving him his due. He is no toll collector, but a tusker, who has got separated from a herd. He stands for hours each day on the road waiting for food-laden trucks to give him his daily quota of food. “We don’t mind giving him a bunch of fruits, rice or other eatables. This is his toll,” says a trucker plying on the route. Fondly called ‘Ramu Haathi,’ he is not always friendly. If he cannot spot a food-laden truck the whole day, he raids roadside hotels for food. Assistant Conservator of Forests Arvind Kumar says Ramu got detached from a herd several months ago and took shelter in Saranda forests, nearly 50 km from here. Normally such a loner becomes violent and attacks human habitats, but Ramu is an exception. He has jelled so well with villagers that they take care of it, said Mr. Kumar, who is posted in West Singhbhum district. Occasionally, elephants in herds emerge from the forests looking for food. People erect barriers on the route to prevent them from attacking them and crops. But the elephants become ferocious and attack villages, says Mr. Kumar. Wild elephants were responsible for the death of 168 people in Jharkhand between 2005 and 2007, the highest figure for any State in the eastern region. But, villagers blame the Forest Department for elephants straying into their habitat. “The Forest Department used to provide crackers, burnt up tyres to check the elephants from straying into villages. But, last year they stopped giving the stuff,” said a member of the Manki Munda Sangh, a tribal body. However, Mr. Kumar said the department was providing the necessary help to protect themselves and their crops from the wild animals. Not only food, local brews ‘mahua’ and ‘haria’ also attract them to villages. “Once they get the intoxicating smell, the elephants will not leave the place without tasting it.” West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Sunil Kumar said the Centre had approved a scheme, part of ‘Project Elephant’ launched in 1992, to assist States with free ranging populations of wild elephants, for the Porahaat, Kolhan and Saranda areas. But it was yet to take off. Jharkhand is one of 13 States covered under the project, entitling it to financial and technical assistance. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 A perfect addition for the New Orleans zoo. Quick get him a FEMA trailer. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-06-20 20:06 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-06-20 19:03 |