The forest departments of West Bengal and Assam have borrowed a page out of history to tackle rogue elephants.
Like the Greek hero, WB and Assam will use horses to scare away rogue elephants
KOLKATA: The forest departments of West Bengal and Assam have borrowed a page out of history to tackle rogue elephants.
During 326 BC when Alexander invaded India, his army consisted of a specialised cavalry. On the other hand, the Indian king Porus’s main battle force was an elephant regiment. A number of historians have written that during the battle on the banks of the Hydaspes (Sutlej), Porus’s elephants got confused and terrorised by the sound of the Greek cavalry, which ultimately led to Alexander’s victory.
The game plan is simple. The forest department will record the horses sound and play it on loudspeakers to frighten off rogue elephants. The idea was conceptualised and adopted by the forest department of Assam, where incidence of the rogue elephants are high. The forest department of West Bengal has also adopted the same policy in Bankura and Purulia districts.
The idea was promoted with the aim to protect rogue elephants from being killed by villagers.
According to the West Bengal chief forest conservator MC Malakar, villagers used firecrackers, bows and spears to drive away elephants. “The elephants get severely injured and sometimes turn rogue. This new process would be a welcome change,” he said. Malakar added horses are mainly domestic animals and elephants are not quite familiar with their sound. “Wild animals are scared of unknown sounds,” Malakar said.
However, noted wild life analyst in Kolkata, MR Rajan feels that the new idea of using recorded horse neighs might work out for few days but cannot be a permanent solution. “After some time, the wild elephants would get habituated with the sound and then the forest department will have to look for an alternative method,” he said.
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