[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by locusjag

All sentient beings feel fear and pain. But in the animal kingdom out in the wild, elephants (and whales and dolphins...etc.) are more sentient than the rest.

There are quite a few books on this (emotions in animals). And I would have thought that we had come quite a long way from say Decartes.

And when you hear of (during the current pandemic) of dogs being abandoned, or drowned for fun, one wonders about our place in the world, and our future as a race.

The mark of a man/ race/ humankind is expressed by how it treats those/ that which cannot retaliate.

Sutripta

[Chetan_Rao]

The bit I find appalling is the sudden hand-waving about 'it could've been accidental', as if that makes it all OK.

The elephant picking up the explosive may be accidental, but the explosive was laid with deliberate and conscious intent to harm some creature in a bid to protect human possessions.

We encroach on their habitats, then when they get hungry and their foraging for survival unfortunately brings them in contact with human habitats, we entrap them in brutal and often fatal ways, and that's when we aren't poaching them for fun and profit.

[roby_dk]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

The elephant picking up the explosive may be accidental, but the explosive was laid with deliberate and conscious intent to harm some creature in a bid to protect human possessions.

Exactly this not about elephant eating it accidentally the problem here is it could have been any other animal. Animals should have equal opportunity to live on earth.

Moreover if the explosive was enough to kill an elephant one of the largest animals on earth just think what harm it will do other small animals. It was kept intentionally that is the main concern here why are we killing them in such brutal ways.

There is a strong need to create awareness about the ecosystem. Everyday we get to see another dark side of humanity.


Akshay Kumar(Tweet):
Maybe animals are less wild and humans less human. What happened with that #elephant is heartbreaking, inhumane and unacceptable! Strict action should be taken against the culprits. #AllLivesMatter

[Engine_Roars]

I was wondering why this year has been so bad and we don't deserve this and then I read about this elephant and her baby and now I believe we humans deserve this and worst than this. I am beyond disgusted. Heartbroken. I wish I had not read the details of her sufferings.

[fiestarry]

It is heartening to see the sympathy for the murdered elephant. The deep anguish and sorrow expressed by some are understandable.
However, the same human race enslaves, slaughters and gorges upon millions of chicken, goats, cows, buffaloes and fish every day!
Would it not be in order for similar sympathy for these harmless creatures too ?

[gkveda]

Dear TBHPians
There is a signature campaign going on to file petition against the person who did this crime

Please sign up

http://chng.it/jyxT8KsvHB

Am not sure if this will really do justice to the mother and child elephants but 2 cents from our side

[vibbs]

Sadly once again we as a country will miss the forest for trees.

Social media is rampant with posts trying to defile the entire state of Kerala or the district of Malappuram for whatever reasons and then a bunch of people trying to defend their state/locality/whatever.

But what is the problem here? IMO it is Human-Animal conflict and it is not limited to a particular geographical location in India.

This is not a bunch of people trying to do this for fun atleast not proved yet in this case. This is a sad effect of our inability to keep human and animal boundaries secure. And killing wild boars by anyone other than forest officials is illegal in Kerala. But the question is also, 'while it is prohibited to kill wild boars, what has been done to eliminate the conflict their population has with humans.'

The people that are affected, is there a way devised to alleviate their problems? I think there is a process to engage forest officials to legally hunt down the boars in case of conflict but perhaps it does not work as well as it should. I know atleast in my home town the narrative is that while wild boars are protected by the government, people are not. And it is much too frequent that the crops are destroyed. Yes we are encroaching. But the poor farmer is not as much at fault as is our flawed development plans that open up green areas in the name of developing the nation. So while we applaud such initiatives, we turn blind eye to the fallouts.

In kerala, many who think they can get away, try tricks like lacing explosive to snare the boars. Unfortunate but that's the reality.

So despite whether this was done purposely or not, the practice of using such methods to keep away wild animals will have unintended victims every once in a while. This time it got media coverage, many a times it does not. The solution to this problem is to find an answer to the question of Human animal conflict in the state if not the country.

[anb]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Dear TBHPians
There is a signature campaign going on to file petition against the person who did this crime

Please sign up

http://chng.it/jyxT8KsvHB

Am not sure if this will really do justice to the mother and child elephants but 2 cents from our side

http://chennaimemes.in/what-is-the-a...rala-elephant/

The news is only half true.

[shankar.balan]

This was an unbearable thing to read as a person who loves animals of all kinds. It truly brought tears to my eyes. Human devices are so brutal and when innocent animals fall victim human cruelty and evil, it makes me think again whether there is indeed a God above us who lets such things happen.
Elephants are very close to humans in their sensitivity and feelings and emotions.
If you read this lovely book The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony, you’ll clearly see this.
I sincerely hope the perpetrators of this are found and brought to justice. This is nothing short of Murder in cold blood, of two lives, not one.
Unbearable thought.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Can we delete this thread and pretend it never happened please? (This is a rhetorical question, please ignore!)

Isn't that an even worse thing to do?

Whatever happened is a brutal crime - whether it happened to an elephant or a human being - whether it was done intentionally to kill, or was just supposed to scare. May be someone even found it funny to see the animal in pain. The culprit and the real intention isn't known yet.

As a Keralite - feeling extremely sad and shameful to read this news. Would be even worse if the society just pretends nothing ever happened.

[Turbohead]

Let me play the bad cop here. Seeing the discussion a bit too one sided. Let me represent the other side. Expecting a huge backlash

I happened to meet a family who lives near a forest for the past 3 generations. They're primarily farmers. Thanks to animal protection laws, the population of wild animals has increased to levels never seen before. They say that they've never seen seen so many animals around before, despite zero encroachment into the actual protected zone. Although they claim the animals look splendid and amazing, they have no means to protect themselves if they do any damage.

You simply can't touch an animal, which is a punishable offense. There is simply no alternative given or suggested to help the farmers/ nearby occupants. You can put up electric fences but they are expensive for most farmers and isn't sufficient to keep all animals at bay.

When farming is your primary occupation and a means to survival, seeing wild animals come and destroy your crop is very very painful. After all, they have to feed and educate their kids and save up for a rainy day. When it comes to survival, people lose all sense of compassion for their well being. This is absolutely natural for any human being. It's desperation and frustration that leads people to do such inhumane things. But is that the solution? No!

The solution most of us here would say is to vacate the area of land and move on. Easier said than done. Dumping all your property,which you can't sell because of these issues and moving to a more expensive area is not really an option for most farmers who would have very little savings. Would you dump your flat or villa in Bangalore because new laws( just an imaginary example) state that you can't stay in a certain area of land on which you threw all your savings and were paying ridiculous EMIs for several years?

By saying all this, I am not saying that we should continue to harm and kill animals. What I'm saying is that as animal lovers, we should begin to find solutions for keeping animals at bay from civilized areas where people, due to their survival instincts, would tend to attack these animals. The solution is not easy. Animal lovers and locals need to come together to solve issues. Currently, it's only the animal lovers who propose laws without consulting the locals who tend to be affected.

I feel bad for the pregnant elephant but seeing a lot of city people posting and commenting on this in social media without knowing the other part of the story is really annoying.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

I feel bad for the pregnant elephant but seeing a lot of city people posting and commenting on this in social media without knowing the other part of the story is really annoying.

The assumption here is that without knowing other side of the story, people are commenting on social media.


I beg to differ on the assumption. It is not that people are not aware of the other side of the story.

People are well aware about the entire scenario. Everybody agree that it is a little tricky situation when animals enter village areas or fields for food and spoil the crops.

There is a clear strategy or approach as well, of bursting crackers little far away from animals to frighten them and drive away from the fields.

The question here is, is killing the animals by feeding pineapple really human?

If the argument is, it was unintentional and death was accidental, what was the need to fill crackers inside pineapple?

For me it looks like murder and purely intentional.

[anb]

Originally Posted by gkveda

The question here is, is killing the animals by feeding pineapple really human?

If the argument is, it was unintentional and death was accidental, what was the need to fill crackers inside pineapple?

For me it looks like murder and purely intentional.

Get your facts right. The elephant was not fed. It ate pineapple filled with fire crackers which was meant for wild boars

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by anb

Get your facts right. The elephant was not fed. It ate pineapple filled with fire crackers which was meant for wild boars

But a wild boar dying after eating such pineapples, is equally an act of sheer brutality. Any animal for that matter, not just a pregnant elephant, wild boar or monkey or anything. Isn't there any other way to keep these animals at bay ?? Just asking.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by gkveda

Dear TBHPians
There is a signature campaign going on to file petition against the person who did this crime

Please sign up

http://chng.it/jyxT8KsvHB

Am not sure if this will really do justice to the mother and child elephants but 2 cents from our side

Totally OT, Does this sort of campaign by Change.org help in anyway?

Really a sad situation played out here and don't know whether the culprits will be caught or not?