Killing Gajah: On the killing of an elephant in Kerala

A profusion of grief has actually followed the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala, the treacherous use of a food bomb causing widespread revulsion and anger Scores of elephants are killed every year in India as their paths cross those of human beings, but the image of a mortally injured animal standing impassively in a river in Palakkad as life ebbed out of it will stay imprinted on the mind. Whether the booby-trapped pineapple that took its life was planned for elephants or other animals matters bit, because such traps litter the troubled landscapes that surround forests across the nation. The terrible fate that befell this animal, however, is a ghastly tip of the increasing conflicts between human beings and animals that are just destined to grow, as commercial pressures eat into currently reduced habitat. The criminals might be prosecuted for the elephant’s death, but that can do little to alleviate the larger issue of lost varieties and obstructed corridors for these roaming giants. India has countless elephants– simply under 30,00 0 according to readily available counts– but no strong science-imbued policy that motivates soft landscapes and moving passages that will minimize conflict. Paradoxically, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar conjured up Indian culture to deplore what took place in Kera