GUWAHATI, April 8 ? Let the elephants live for the sake of humanity. Do not lead it to extinction, or else all of us will face the same fate, said noted elephant expert Parbati Barua while addressing a Guwahati Press Club function as the Guest of the Month at the Press Club premises here this morning. Smt Barua, a recipient of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)?s 1989 ?Global 500-Roll of Honour? award for elephant conservation, and daughter of the legendary expert on Asian elephant the Late Prakritesh Chandra Barua (Lalji), a descendant of the Gauripur Jamindars, regretted that cases of poaching of elephant are quite alarming in number in the NE region.
The cases of man-elephant conflict is also growing in number in the region and, she said, ?we, the people are responsible for this?. In the country, there are only 12 States where elephants are still found. In the bygone days, elephants roamed all over the country. Historical records have it that in the stable of Mughal emperor Jehangir there were around 25,000 elephants. But, today, the entire country has only about 28,000 elephants, she said. It is high time that the media should play a major role in making the people aware, about the need of conserving our precious wildlife, said Smt Barua, also a member of the Asian Elephants Specialists Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who has been trying in her personal capacity for past couple of decades to make the people aware on the issue.
She also visited the Nameri Reserve Forest after the incidents of poisoning several elephants to death by the people there last year to make an on-the-spot study of the situation there. Her visit to Nameri made her believe that people have now become intolerant towards the elephants. ?Earlier, we used to follow a principle of peaceful co-existence?, she said, announcing with the glimmer in her eyes that her prime concern was the betterment of the pachyderm. She also reminded the newspersons that though it has a thick skin, the elephant has a super sensitivity in its skin, contrary to popular belief. It has also a strong smelling power and a good memory. It can read the human attitudes towards it in a very intelligent manner, she said.
Moreover, generally, elephant is very shy of many things and very peace loving animal. But, it is because of our behaviour that this animal has become a problem for us today. If this situation is allowed to go on, things will turn to be very serious for our coming generations, she warned. There are several ways to check depredation by the elephants like through pulling up electric fences and deployment of chasing squads etc. But, considering the fact that elephant is a very intelligent animal, such fences should be maintained properly, or else it (elephant) will make its way out to reach the human habitations said Smt Barua who with the help of her pet elephants and team of trained mahuts successfully sent back a herd of about 35 wild elephants to its habitat in Dalna Forest in Bihar in 1988, following the incidents of depredation it was involved in for about three months in the Bakura area of West Bengal when it lost its track. She is still helping the West Bengal Government in tackling such problems and training its forest officials.
When asked for her reaction on the apathy shown by the Assam Government in matters of requisitioning her expertise in tackling the growing man-elephant conflict in the State, she said that she had nothing to comment. ?When the Assam Government feels that my services are required in tackling the problem, it will requisition my services. Perhaps it has not felt that need now?, she said. Niece of the legendary film maker Late Pramathesh Barua and younger sister of the queen of Goalpariya folk song Padmashree Pratima Pandey Barua, Smt Barua is also a good folk dancer. When asked whether she felt herself estranged from cultural activities during her long stay in jungles Smt Barua, the 47-year-old lone woman elephant catcher of the world, said ?I do never feel that I am separated from culture, elephant is a part of our culture?.