June 2006 Archives

Willie Theisen - Pittsburgh Zoo Elephant Manager The villagers of the Jalapaiguri district dread the night. That’s when the lumbering giants emerge from the forest to gorge on their crops of rice and corn. In West Bengal, villagers are waging war with marauding elephants that destroy their homes without warning causing the roof or walls to crash in on sleeping families. Villagers awake to the terrifying spectacle of rampaging elephants wrecking their home. They flee in panic grabbing family members who stubble into the chaotic darkness. But in many cases, as the dust settles, families discover that not everyone made it out alive. Tragically, events like these are becoming commonplace in areas of the world where elephants and people live in close proximity. Wild elephants are by nature very peaceful animals and under normal circumstances prefer an existence away from people. They are genuinely good-natured and spend most of their day eating and caring for their young. But in some regions human development and population growth have encroached on elephant territory—depriving them of food sources and creating a situation ripe for conflict. I’ve been caring for zoo elephants for 27 years and could barely believe the stories of these raging elephants--in my experience these creatures were gentle, intelligent giants. I traveled with the National Geographic Explorer crew to India to document the impact of the human/elephant conflict and try and provide some insights into why elephants were attacking people. We joined one of India’s elephant squads that are charged with solving these conflicts while protecting both species—human and elephant. Their job is particularly critical during harvest season when elephants stealthily sneak onto crop fields and feast on the high protein snacks throughout the night. The men must track and maneuver the elephants back into the forests in the dark. The patrols are on call from sunset to well past midnight. But when elephants are reported in a field many of the villagers respond immediately, chasing the elephants away themselves rather than waiting for the experts. By the time the squad arrives, the village is usually electrified, tense, and chaotic. Calming down the villagers, in my opinion, was actually the most difficult part of the squads’ job. They are frightened and ready to defend their turf and the youngsters are all pumped up and eager to chase the elephants. Tarun Mahalanabish, the leader of the Binnaguri squad, has spent many years with the wildlife department and has an intimate knowledge of elephant behavior. He knows the best strategies to move elephants and the importance of keeping them together in a herd to reduce stress and confusion – and he passes on this knowledge to his team, ensuring they all approach these tense situations in the same way. It is important and impressive to note that this particular squad has had no fatal incidents, with elephants or humans, within their zone they patrol—a tribute to the leader’s experience. As I drove with the squad, the first time we spotted an elephant in the headlights of the jeep everyone’s adrenalin levels soared and we pursued the animal to keep it moving. We nicknamed the squad’s jeep driver “Mario Andretti” because he could chase the elephants with incredible skill and speed. While in hot pursuit, the team figures out whether the elephant is a loner or in a herd. Depending on the location, as I soon found out, the team may have to jump out of the jeep and pursue the elephants on foot to move them back to the forests—incredibly dangerous! The squad tries to teach the elephants that the forest is a safe zone where they will not be pursued. I ran with the squad trying to determine how close to follow the elephants, how to keep the team together, and how to best keep the elephants moving. The situation was crazy and I was convinced these guys were out of their minds. They have basically no technology or weapons—just spotlights, firecrackers and shotguns filled with birdshot! The spotlight is actually a car battery wired to a bulb—and that car battery is especially heavy when running through fields. The firecrackers frighten the animals with noise. The shotguns the squad members carry are filled with birdshot, so firing is about as effective as shooting about 30 BB guns. If the elephants decide to stop running and confront the squad, they are totally defenseless—they will get killed. But as the squad leader explained to me chasing them on foot to the edge of the field was the only way to ensure they returned to the forest. Not all squads were this good. Others we worked with had no idea about elephant psychology and just chased the animals chaotically.