Mammoth Loss

24May2009
Two elephants were found dead in the cardamom and tea plantations of Urlikal. The postmortem reveled poisoning due to consumption of pesticides as the cause of death. This was a herd which one of my colleges has been following for the past many years now. He informed that one more elephant from the same herd of 9, had died mysteriously 2 months ago. Now the strength of the herd comes down to 6.



We stayed on for the postmortem to collect tissue samples. Till this incident, I considered trade of animal parts as a serious crime. After i witnessed the postmortem followed by the removal of the tusks my idea of the criminal act of trade in wildlife parts changed completely. The removal of the tusks in this situation gave me an idea of how it would be when done in a different situation. The goriness of taking away an innocent animal's life just to chop trough its flesh, extract it's tusks, polish it and keep it in a showcase or use as a seal is revolting. Its the most shameful and ugly act any human can ever do.


The forest department collects tusks from dead elephants and their are emporiums where govt. Authorized ivory is sold. This looks like a very bad way to discourage the ivory trade. This means the lesser the supply and the rarer the availability, there is all the more demand for the trade to persist illegally.