The heart-warming Indian documentary ‘The Elephant Whispers’, which showcases the true story of human-elephant friendship and elephant protection, has won an Oscar. But the reality is very different from this. Elephants are still being hunted in India to prove themselves big and for ivory.
Ivory smuggling has been banned in the country since 1986. Despite this, its illegal trade is flourishing. If we look at the figures of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, from the year 2018 to 2022 i.e. in the last five years, 475 kg of ivory and its artifacts have been seized from poachers and traders across the country.
In 1976, India became the 25th country to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Since then he has been involved in the effort to conserve elephants. Since becoming a part of it, India has taken several initiatives including banning the sale of ivory in the country, import of African ivory and starting project for elephants. Yet, elephant poaching and ivory trade continues unabated in the country’s thief markets.
Around the world, ivory is used to flaunt its wealth and for religious purposes. The growing demand for ivory can be very damaging to the environment, especially to elephant populations.
According to the answer given in the Lok Sabha, poachers killed 41 elephants from the year 2018 to 2022. Half of these elephants died in Meghalaya (12) and Odisha (10). Apart from poaching, 25 elephants were poisoned in the last five years.
Cases are not available
Poaching numbers are not even in double digits. On this, experts say that the figures can be misleading as many cases of poaching are not even registered. Asad R Rahmani, a member of the South Asian Governing Board of Wetlands International, told BLiTZ, “The recorded poaching figures are far less than the reality.” The Odisha High Court has said 2022 will be among the worst years for the state’s elephants, on a PIL seeking to find a charred elephant carcass (which was set on fire by Similipal Tiger Reserve personnel in December last year to hide the prey). In February this year, three forest department personnel were arrested for killing an eyewitness to a poaching incident.
According to data from Save the Elephants, prices on the illegal ivory market have been rising over the years. Wholesale prices in China, one of the major markets for ivory, have soared. Where it was $750 per kg in 2017, its price has doubled in 2020.
According to PoachingFacts, the major countries for illegal ivory are China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
In India, ivory has been used as a trophy or to show wealth for hundreds of years. But the ivory carving industry here is said to be 4,000 years ago. Rahmani says, ‘India is known for its ivory workmanship. It is difficult to stop its illegal trade here. The government has been able to control the ivory trade, but there is still a need to create awareness among the people.
global problem
According to the World Wildlife Fund, about 10 million wild elephants were found in the African continent in 1930. But decades of poaching decimated the population of African elephants. Experts estimated in 2016 that the African elephant population had declined by 111,000 in a decade.
Africa now has only 4.15 lakh elephants and India has only 29,964 elephants. In the effort to save the elephants, the Government of India achieved a great achievement. But last year around the world
Environmentalists slammed India after it abstained from voting on a demand for the resumption of the ivory trade. This is the first time this has happened since joining the sites.
A motion to allow regulated ivory trade from Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe failed 83-15.
Experts worry that if there is any change in the country’s decades-old anti-ivory campaign, it could also lead to a softer stance against the international trade in ivory. An expert said, “If India does not support the ban and allows the ivory trade, decades of hard work will fail.”
conflict between humans and elephants
The Government of India launched Project Elephant, a centrally sponsored scheme, in 1991-92 to protect elephants, their habitats and corridors, and prevent human-elephant conflict. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 2,544 people lost their lives due to elephant-human conflict from 2018 to 2022. The government has decided to celebrate Gaja Utsav at Kaziranga National Park on April 7 and 8 to mark the completion of 30 years of Project Elephant.
On the government’s efforts to prevent human-elephant conflict and save elephants from man-made disasters, Project Elephant director Ramesh Kumar Pandey said the department is training all stakeholders and creating infrastructure to avoid accidents Is.
