Elephants and Tea Plantations, India

[Space4Eles]

Original post by SL 17 Oct 2011:

Dame Daphne condemns Elephant massacre by Assam Tea Gardens

*"It is worse than an outrage because it impacts on the reputation of India
as a country that the evil poison wielding tea estates can get away with
this. All caring people must and should speak out. The Elephants of India
are a sacred asset for the country and should be regarded as such"*
* *
Dr Dame Daphne Sheldrick
DBE MBE MBS DVMS
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Kenya

[Space4Eles]

Original post by SL 17 Oct 2011:

(Message dated 17th October' 2010)
___

The above message from Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, the living legend proves
yet again how concerned the world is about the loss of India's precious
wealth.
Dame Daphne has always been the voice for the voiceless Gentle Giants of
India, whenever they needed her.
Let us now join Daphne and team up with Mr. Jairam Ramesh our Hon'ble Union
Environment & Forest Minister who asked the state of Assam to punish the
guilty.

We all know how much of a damage the Tea gardens of Assam caused to the
elephant population directly and indirectly.
With their illegal trenches, illegal chemical use practices to ward off
elephants, illegal electric fencings many a times, shooting of elephants by
poisoned arrows by tea garden workers, lacing the gardens with poison,
injecting poison in running streams.

They have done all the damage they could to the elephants in a state which
is very much a part of India where the elephant is accorded a VVIP status as
a schedule one species.
They have done this to the elephants blatantly violating the rights of these
species as per the Constitution of India.
They have done this despite the elephant holding the status as a 'National
Heritage Animal'.
They have done this despite the fact that it is worshiped as a God by many
here.

They will do this again and again because the conviction so far in the
dozens of elephant death cases due to tea garden attacks is close to ZERO.

For a state which has been reeling under terrorism and militancy and which
has been witness to human massacres in hundreds, the deaths of a non-human
species may not be of a high priority.

But for us it is.

So let us write to the Director, Project Elephant (India) for a speedy
investigation and action on the tea garden elephant massacres.
Contact details:

Mr. A.N. Prasad
Director (Project Elephant)
Government of India
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryawaran Bhawan, CGO Complex
Lodi Road, NEW DELHI - 110 003 INDIA
E-Mail : gajendra@nic. in
Phone # 91-11-24360549
Fax # 91-11-24360678

Warm regards,

Azam Siddiqui

[spiritedlulu]

Elephant calf rescued and back with mum

‘We reached the spot to see the calf stuck upside down in the ditch and the mother nearby guarding it. The team decided to chase the mother away by firing bullets in the air, so that they could approach the calf and pull it out of the ditch,' said Dr Bhawal, part of the IFAW-WTI rescue team.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/eleph...cue2011.html#cr

[spiritedlulu]

The is another incident in the Tea gardens. A young male. Video

A young adult male elephant was trapped for about two hours in a tea garden ditch at Borsapori Tea Estate near Bokakhat in Northeast India yesterday morning.

http://blog.ifaw.org/2011/09/14/video-team...ped-in-a-ditch/

[spiritedlulu]

JALPAIGURIi: In a world where elephants are fast losing their natural habitat due to human encroachments, it is unusual a rare occasion to find human beings doing a good turn for animals. One such instance was witnessed in Banerhat on Thursday. Elephants are falling prey to train accidents, and rampant poisoning, this is a story which is a sharp contrast to that and depicts the better side of human nature.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ko...intenttarget=no

[Space4Eles]

How encouraging to read accounts like this - thank you for posting.

It was because of the labourers' efforts of the tea estate that the calf could get back to its mother.

[Space4Eles]

Elephant Falls Into Ditch At Tea Plantation In India, Rescued By Excavator And Locals (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/12/e..._n_1090404.html

[Space4Eles]

Wild elephants ransack tea estate director's bungalow

Meanwhile, elephants have started coming out of the forests and have destroyed crops in the adjoining agricultural lands in Alandurai, PN Palayam, Sirumugai and Thindamuthur. Forest officials are attributing the reason for the attacks to poor rains which dried up the water sources in forests and the lack of enough fodder within the forest environment.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/co...ow/17606460.cms