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Posted by Dawn M. Smith Jan 10, 2007 |
A study of elephant calf displacement in India between January 2001 and November 2004 showed an average of 20 calves per year being separated from their herds.
There are many ways a calf can get into trouble but the three most common reasons are:
- falling into manmade ditches/channels/trenches
- getting left behind when the herd (often crop raiding) is being chased
- being swept away in floods
These three situations account for 2/3 of all displacements listed in a recent study done by the Wildlife Trust of India. Of them, only flooding is a natural occurrence, and that situation is aggravated by human encroachment. As more people build homes on the high ground above the flood zone, the area where the animals can retreat to decreases.
In Assam, Kaziranga National Park is in the flood plain. The elephants live there in the dry season as food is plentiful. But once the floods come, the high ground that was traditionally their wet season habitat, is a difficult and dangerous place. To reach it, a major road must be crossed. Once across the road, there are tea gardens to be negotiated. And to find food in a highly developed area often means crop raiding.
So here, in an area with the protection of a national park, the animals still must cross into human inhabited areas to survive. It can be much worse in other places.