The forcible capture of elephant Kusha by officials in Dubare camp, Kodagu, while the animal was with its companion, has raised ethical questions.
Forest officials acknowledged that they have to take hard decisions to avoid human-animal conflict.
It is common for elephants to leave the camp during the time of ‘musth’ and return after a while.
However, Kusha left the camp and didn’t return for more than a year.
During each attempt to capture him, the jumbo escaped, preferring to stay in the wild.
Separated from companion
After a struggle of six months, officials at the camp, with the help of four tamed elephants, captured Kusha early morning on Tuesday, separating him from his companion in the process.
Brickbats on social media
Many on social media questioned the ethics of capturing an animal which repeatedly indicated its preference to stay in natural habitat.
Retired principal chief conservator of forests B K Singh said rehabilitating elephants to the forests should be given priority.
“The first option in elephant management is to send it to the wild after capture and not to bring it to captivity. Usually, the chief wildlife warden and his officers come under pressure from the public and politicians to bring elephants, straying into human areas and causing damages to lives and properties, to captivity,” he said.
He said that in the past, such elephants were released in the wild, sometimes even more than 200 km away.
“Many of these elephants came back to the places where they were captured, but quite a few of them adapted themselves to the new habitat. Kusha has lived for more than a year in the wild. It can manage the situation in ‘musth’ and also during in-fights,” he said.
Responding to the suggestion, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Vijaykumar Gogi said the department had considered the option of leaving the elephant in the wild, but decided to capture it to avoid possible man-animal conflicts.
“We have to see the issue from several aspects. We give primacy to animal rights. However, one has to consider the problem of elephants raiding crops or harming humans. Any decision to allow Kusha to live in the wild included the risk of recurrence of such incidents. Capturing it seemed to be the safest option,” he
said.
Joseph Hoover, a member of the State Wildlife Board, said capturing an elephant was a hard decision that the department has to make.
‘Shrinking forests’
“Shrinking of forests and largescale damage to animal corridors will mean the department will be pressured by one and all to capture animals eventually. This is the cost of unplanned development projects,” he said.