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Big trouble on a little island: The Pioneer
New Delhi, Sept 06: Marooned on an island with barely enough to eat, 35 elephants are doomed to die. The elephants of Interview Island are an exotic problem that appears to lack any viable solution. The history of these elephants goes back to the 50`s when a private logging company from Kolkata, P C Ray and Co. was given a contract to extract timber from the forests of Interview Island (Northern part of the Andamans).
New Delhi, Sept 06: Marooned on an island with barely enough to eat, 35 elephants are doomed to die. The elephants of Interview Island are an exotic problem that appears to lack any viable solution. The history of these elephants goes back to the 50's when a private logging company from Kolkata, P C Ray and Co. was given a contract to extract timber from the forests of Interview Island (Northern part of the Andamans).
In the early 60's the company went bankrupt and withdrew their operations. P C Ray packed up and moved, but left their working elephants behind.
Once domesticated, the 40-odd elephants turned feral, and initially flourished in the islands. There was plenty of food to support the animals and a study conducted in 1994 showed that their population had increased to 71.
However, the picture was far from rosy. Being an alien species, the elephants were a threat to the native species such as the endangered King Cobra and the water monitor lizard. They were a major threat to the vegetation and caused the extinction of many a species. However, the problem is much more complex. Not only are they a threat to the ecology here, the elephants themselves are doomed as they have eaten themselves out of their 131 sq km home. A severe shortage of a suitable diet in the island could mean that the Interview Island elephants will be wiped out.
Their numbers have halved in the last decade to 35 from 71 in 1994. A 2002 study by the Andamans and Nicobar Environmental Team points says while poaching is a possibility, the main reason for the falling numbers is starvation. The favourite diet of the elephants; cane, bamboo and pandanus (a tropical fruit-bearing tree) is now virtually absent in the island except on steep slopes inaccessible to them. The island is too small for them. Usually a group of 30 elephants would require around 300 sq km of forest, here they have barely half. Marooned and isolated, the elephants are known to swim in the sea in search of greener pastures.
Officials and conservationists stress the need for urgent translocation, but as Pankaj Sekhsaria, expert and author on environment issues concerning the Andamans, points out, "It is virtually impossible, how does one locate, tranquilize and then translocate elephants?"
Even if the translocation was possible, where would the elephants go? The elephants are feral and have lost their fear of humans and are potentially dangerous. Certain death seems to be the fate of these gentle giants, who once served man. Scientists advocate a "population die-off using contraceptives" as the kindest alternative. "Using contraceptives seems to be the only viable, though difficult, alternative. While contraceptives have not been tried in India they have been used to control unviable populations in zoos abroad," says renowned elephant scientist, Arun Venkatraman. Interview Island has been declared a sanctuary, but state protection has not helped the cau.
In the early 60's the company went bankrupt and withdrew their operations. P C Ray packed up and moved, but left their working elephants behind.
Once domesticated, the 40-odd elephants turned feral, and initially flourished in the islands. There was plenty of food to support the animals and a study conducted in 1994 showed that their population had increased to 71.
However, the picture was far from rosy. Being an alien species, the elephants were a threat to the native species such as the endangered King Cobra and the water monitor lizard. They were a major threat to the vegetation and caused the extinction of many a species. However, the problem is much more complex. Not only are they a threat to the ecology here, the elephants themselves are doomed as they have eaten themselves out of their 131 sq km home. A severe shortage of a suitable diet in the island could mean that the Interview Island elephants will be wiped out.
Their numbers have halved in the last decade to 35 from 71 in 1994. A 2002 study by the Andamans and Nicobar Environmental Team points says while poaching is a possibility, the main reason for the falling numbers is starvation. The favourite diet of the elephants; cane, bamboo and pandanus (a tropical fruit-bearing tree) is now virtually absent in the island except on steep slopes inaccessible to them. The island is too small for them. Usually a group of 30 elephants would require around 300 sq km of forest, here they have barely half. Marooned and isolated, the elephants are known to swim in the sea in search of greener pastures.
Officials and conservationists stress the need for urgent translocation, but as Pankaj Sekhsaria, expert and author on environment issues concerning the Andamans, points out, "It is virtually impossible, how does one locate, tranquilize and then translocate elephants?"
Even if the translocation was possible, where would the elephants go? The elephants are feral and have lost their fear of humans and are potentially dangerous. Certain death seems to be the fate of these gentle giants, who once served man. Scientists advocate a "population die-off using contraceptives" as the kindest alternative. "Using contraceptives seems to be the only viable, though difficult, alternative. While contraceptives have not been tried in India they have been used to control unviable populations in zoos abroad," says renowned elephant scientist, Arun Venkatraman. Interview Island has been declared a sanctuary, but state protection has not helped the cau.