[ashokrajagopal]

Nobody deliberately feeds a wild elephant with anything, least of all locals because they know its dangerous.

If the area has an elephant problem, they don't try to do it with pineapples either because it wouldn't work generally with elephants.

Wild boars are sufficiently destructive in the sense that they cause more damage to crops than they eat; they will destroy the whole area.

Unless someone is manning the area for the entire crop months and spot the boars from a distance and burst crackers to scare them away every single time they come, the farmers cant scare them away.
The crackers are kept inside food because of this.

As to a solution to keep the animals away, it is to get electric fences just outside the forests and costs a lot. This can only be done by government because of the scale -- because we are talking about large area, and continuous electric supply.

It is very understandable to have an outpouring of emotion from celebrities and public, but going after "culprits" is simply pointless. Solutions should be permanent.

Now, lets say the central govt accounts for all this and decides to add 1% surcharge to income tax to implement -- we know how that is going to go thru social media.

[anb]

Originally Posted by vivek95

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.

Electric fencing can be used. It won't become popular in news channel and social media even if elephant die, like 90 elephants deaths due electic fencing in Assam.
https://scroll.in/article/922397/in-...o-prevent-this

[ashokrajagopal]

Originally Posted by anb

Electric fencing can be used.

The right fencing has to be used and it costs a lot. The theory is high voltage to induce a shock, but very low current to block the freezing of muscles. Kind of like the static but in much higher scale.
Not possible from the main supply, it requires elaborate setup to do over a large area.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by RavSam

How did the cracker stay lit until it was given to her or when she was eating? How did the elephant not see the spark or fire or smell or taste of something fishy? Wondering if it's just firecrackers or something worse.

Not sold in cracker shops, but there are crackers which will explode upon severe compression - such as bite force. I have seen such crackers during my early school days, one can explode them by forcefully throwing against the ground or a wall. They were banned later.

Some people illegally manufacture them for use against animals. Many years ago I saw it being used against stray dogs by mixing chunks in biryani, when the dog population became too much in a factory colony of a south TN town. A couple of dogs died when their jaw exploded. One however swallowed a couple of chunks and ran in to the sector where the quarters of bigwigs were located, and the security fellows ran behind them frantically. But all the strays disappeared after that. It is an inhuman and illegal method, but some people use it. Like they use electric fences against wild life.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by anb

Electric fencing can be used. It won't become popular in news channel and social media even if elephant die, like 90 elephants deaths due electic fencing in Assam. [/url]

Electric fencing should not be used exactly for the reason mentioned in your post. Instead, the focus should be on how the Kaziranga or Ranthambore National Parks controls poaching. That is, an efficient task force to tackle poaching and quick compensation to victims of crop loss or animal attacks. The government also should take steps to make cohabiting with the wildlife a financially viable option. That could be involving the farmers to promote tourism focused on wildlife. Another option would be to make harming animals a lot more expensive than it currently is (increase the fines and jail term).


Having said all this, I still don't think there can be any justification for harming wildlife (even if it eats you). The farmers know it is a crime to kill wildlife, and still make that choice. Also, the governments in Kerala, like in most other states are lenient to encroachment of forests. The state grants titles to people who had encroached forest land before 1 January 1977. That is understandable, since elephants do not vote, whereas farmers do. That is why Kerala tried to regularize encroachments till June 2005 (fortunately, that order was later revoked). So, most farmers who have land near forests in Kerala would have encroached on forest land and got it regularized by the government. When they made that choice, they have no right to cry about the presence of wild animals on "their" land. It is high time that we have stronger laws to protect the rights of wild animals and adivasis who live in harmony with the forest.

Read more at: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/sou...land-in-kerala

[Sutripta]

I think there is some misinformation about how 'wildlife access control' electric fencing works.

Sutripta

[Vasuki]

It is the livelihood of farmers at stake. So they used it to scare away / kill wild boars. But it misfired.

Let's say this, out pour of emotions has been due to the animal being pregnant.

I'm from Kerala and I find this incident very deplorable.

[moralfibre]

Mod note: Please don't discuss politics. Stick to the topic. Thanks!

[hondafanboy]

Such a gruesome and shameful act by those pathetic fools . They will pay for it when their time comes but I hope authorities come in quick and deliver justice here.

[manjunathkl]

Like any man-animal conflict stories, this will also end-up giving an upper-hand to human existence. It is a pre-decided fate of this debate.

Still, there are some pertinent facts that many on this thread have ignored:

1. While we define this as human-animal conflict, we are conveniently forgetting one important aspect. Whenever someone hears the word "human-animal" conflict, it is implying that both humans and animals are on equal disadvantage and thus it is difficult to decide who should let go the contested resources. This is nothing but a shallow understanding of life in general.

Humans and animals are not on an equal plane. Humans are far more evolved, superior by skills, we have tools to make our lives easy, far more competent in survival. Poor animals are at a severe disadvantage here. Still, they show the resilience and fight for their survival.

"With great power comes great responsibility" quote is very easily forgotten by humans. So, with all the advancements we have done as humans we must use them to improve the quality of lives, not just of humans but every creature of mother earth. I cannot accept that the sum total of all the human knowledge, inventions, discoveries are not enough to peacefully (and symbiotically) cohabit with all other species on earth.


2. Humans are there today because of millions of years of evolution. That means in every human's genes there is a little bit of fish, frog, snake, elephant, chimp gene. We wouldn't be roaming this earth if those animals whom we are trying to oppress now, had not survived and allowed free evolution.

A little bit of gratitude is all it takes to care for cohabiting species. Whether you call it compassion, humanity or any fancy word, it doesn't matter. We are somehow short of it always. There is no difference between a son disowning his old age parents and we subjecting animals to such cruelty. It is kicking the ladder you used to climb up. It is the exact opposite of gratitude.


3. Regarding humans encroaching forests - Any position taken without considering the larger picture will obviously be wrong from the others' point of view - If you decide humans can take away forest land, its injustice to animals. If animals are not controlled are allowed to destroy crops, it is an injustice to farmers.
This approach to thinking (humans vs. animals) is just a shallow analysis. When you analyze issues at macro levels, you will understand this. None of the species - humans, animals, trees are permanent. So, we are all VISITORS here. Each of these species will be replaced by the other in some scale of time. So in effect, nobody owns anything. Everything is nature's property. Given this broader understanding, we should shift from "humans vs animals" paradigm to "humans and animals" paradigm.
For simplicity sake, whoever has a pet dog/cat/fish at home think about it - Do you ever think human members vs. pets? No. Because you accept it as your own. The same thing needs to be extended to all animals on earth.


4. If all the above fails to convince you, let me give one more fact. Even if we become super selfish and care only about humans, then also, the animals, trees survival is essential for the environmental conditions than can sustain humanity. So, for our own selfish reasons we need to stop oppressing animals in the many many cruel ways that we do today.

Fun facts:
If bee population falls below a threshold, it will reduce pollination resulting in affecting food production badly.

If earthworm and other earthly micro-organisms perish, not a single plant will germinate out of the soil. Humanity will starve to death.


In summary, humans must stop the exploitation of animals/trees (and the whole ecosystem) and only find solutions that can help us cohabit with other creatures of our mother earth. There is simply no other solution (unless Elon Musk takes us to Mars and we settle there - That way animals on earth can have a better life). One more thing: Next time you talk about such issues, never say that it is "human-animal conflict" issue. It simply distorts the problem (far from getting anywhere near the solution).

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by vivek95

But a wild boar dying after eating such pineapples, is equally an act of sheer brutality.

Wild boars are vermin, they are a menace to both agriculture and forests.

Read this article from an wildlife expert to understand why.

The vermin status of Wild boar varies from state to state.

Goa declared it vermin less than a month ago.

Kerala allows forest officials gun down wild boar.

This cracker stuffed pineapple was obviously placed for wild boar by some farmers who were fed up by all the damage by the wild boars. Unfortunately, an elephant got to it first. This method is not legal, but when people are frustrated, they take extreme measures. In remote areas, law is not exactly followed to the letter. Even enforcers are used to turning a blind eye when farmers take matter into their own hands.

Suppose an animal destroys your work product on a daily basis. What would you do after all the humane methods fail?

[poloman]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Suppose an animal destroys your work product on a daily basis. What would you do after all the humane methods fail?

Why did they encroach forest land and cultivate in first place? This took place in the buffer zone of Silent valley national park. Most of these areas are illegally occupied for generations. There was a report from a environmentalist Madhav Gadgil which talked about the extent of encroachment in western ghats.

Why should wild boars be declared vermins? They are not roaming in the human settlements or cities. If some one go and start cultivation in their natural habitat, obviously they will feed on the produce.

It is not man animal conflict, it is criminal encroachment of animal habitat and labeling them the culprits. They can't identify whether it is cultivated or naturally grown.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Wild boars are vermin, they are a menace to both agriculture and forests.

As Samurai mentioned, wild boars are indeed a pest.

Coming back to the issue of wild boar and nilgai, both degrade forests. Both are seen near human habitations more than in forests. Both inhabit open grassland with bush, the wild boar preferring thorny scrub with wallowing pools, while the nilgai prefers open wooded areas. Wild boars contaminate water sources with faecal matter that has a very high bacterial content. They kill the fawns of deer and antelope; eat the eggs and chicks of ground-nesting birds. Over a period of time, the biodiversity is lost. Apart from the loss of animal diversity, they also dig up roots, tubers and young saplings, especially of the gum tree Sterculia urens. Large sounders of wild boar are seen everywhere. They root under trees for worms and grubs, loosening the earth, and as a result, the trees are in danger of falling.

As someone mentioned before in this thread, locals use "pannipadakkam" to fend off boars. These methods have been used at a lot of places and several species have fallen victims to it. Several large cats have been killed over the past few years in Karnataka due to traps meant for boars.

There have been several debates on how to deal with this problem. Kerala government recently allowed the boars to be shot, subject to very strict conditions such as the shooting party to include a forest officer, animal husbandry official, trained shooter etc. I guess the basic idea is to eliminate the need for such traps, which can kill/main other species as well.

The people who laid these traps will hopefully be caught soon for the elephant's murder. News reports state that someone has announced a reward for their capture.

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

The people who laid these traps will hopefully be caught soon for the elephant's murder. News reports state that someone has announced a reward for their capture.

Received the below image as Whatsapp forward.

Yes, HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL have announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 to those who can give information about people who laid the trap.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by poloman

Why did they encroach forest land and cultivate in first place? This took place in the buffer zone of Silent valley national park. Most of these areas are illegally occupied for generations.

Greed.

Originally Posted by poloman

Why should wild boars be declared vermins? They are not roaming in the human settlements or cities. If some one go and start cultivation in their natural habitat, obviously they will feed on the produce.

I am surprised you missed the article link I posted. Here it is:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Wild boars are vermin, they are a menace to both agriculture and forests.

Read this article from an wildlife expert to understand why.

Their natural predator wolves are very few in number, and wild boars breed very fast, almost like rabbits.