The recent tragedy that added to the statistics of Sri Lanka’s human elephant conflict was a heartbreaking incident. Six elephants had been hit by the train when crossing over the tracks. These tracks run through prime elephant habitat. Large groups of elephants would cross over these tracks frequently in their daily travel routine. Either side of the tracks are plenty of grasslands for elephants to graze. The tracks that run through these habitats are a good example of the consequences when two worlds come together. There will always be a loss for someone at some point.
Sri Lanka’s elephant is running out of space and the lack of urgency to rectify these matters are what aggravates the conflict further. The result of years of visionless development with the intent on seeking short term goals has led to the human elephant conflict to reach such disastrous levels. The lack of empathy for beast and bird where thinking is only in the lines of human benefits and development. Where everything is done for short term betterment of human lives and nothing else. It is this mindset that brings about this conflict. A mindset that has been developed and trained to think in this way through years of educational and social processes. It is now a norm to think along these lines and an abnormality to consider other species when deciding the development of humans well being.
I visited a similar location recently, a place where large groups of elephants would cross over the railway track to enter the forest reserve on the other side. They would feed through the night on the fallow paddy fields. As dawn approaches they head back to the safety of forests cover. The place they cross is extremely dangerous, the road and railway lay side by side to each other, probably 15 meters apart. Once over the rail tracks they step onto the road hence the dangers are doubled for both elephants and humans. Especially since they cross just at the break of dawn when the light is still low. Weary drivers who are not familiar with the road would not be paying attention to elephants crossing.
The locals living close proximity to this crossing know when the elephants are on their way to cross both in the evening to enter the paddy lands and in the morning when they leave the paddy lands. They stand by the roads directing the traffic and stopping the vehicles when the elephants arrive to cross the road. At least there are a few good souls with some compassion to be a positive impact to Sri Lanka’s human elephant conflict. These people would come together when the elephants head towards the rail tracks and road to ensure they cross over safely to the forest cover. Ironically its the same people whose paddy lands they come to feed on.
Anyway, Sri Lanka’s human elephant conflict is here to stay, it will remain a conflict until proper planning, empathy towards elephants and visionary leaders like the kings of ancient times who built for man and beast are born. Till then the tragedy will continue and one day all the elephants will be gone and the conflict would end. But what would become of the world we live in with no elephants? Think about it?
