The elephant evokes a strong emotional reaction in India. Sadly, despite being venerated as a god and idolised on the big screen as man's best friend, the elephant is now in desperate straits in the wild due to poaching and loss of habitat. Only male Asian Elephants bear tusks. The insatiable demand for ivory has led to the selective slaughter of tuskers in their prime and as a result the ratio of tuskers and females has fallen to an alarming low.
We lost over 121 elephants due to poaching in a period of four years from 2008 to 2011. During this same period, its been recorded that 781 kg of ivory, 69 tusks, 31 cut pieces of ivory, 99 pieces of ivory carvings and 75 ivory bangles have been seized from across the country. From 2008 to 2011, a further 50 wild elephants died in road and train accidents and a shocking 111 elephants died from electrocution. But poaching remains the major cause of death for wild elephants.
Poaching elephants for ivory and meat is a widespread phenomenon in many Asian countries including India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea and Sri Lanka (Sukumar 1989, Santiapillai 1987, Santiapillai 1987a, Santiapillai & Jackson 1990, Venevongphet 1995). In Myanmar, poaching has been reported as rampant in many parts including the eastern and western slopes of Arakan Yoma, lower Chindwin, Pegu Yoma, Shan states, Tennaserim district and Katha district (Santiapillai 1987, Olivier 1978). In some areas, entire populations have been wiped out due to poaching. In Thailand 10% of the country's elephant population were poached between 1975-79 for both meat and ivory especially in the western and northern parts of the country (Santiapillai 1987a, Storer 1981). Poaching for ivory is the major problem in Laos as well, with as many as 42 elephants reported to be poached in 1992 ( Venevonghpet 1995). In India poaching has always been a factor affecting the elephant's survival although historically this has been either sporadic or of a low intensity in most parts of the country. Sukumar (1989) estimated that poaching for ivory had indeed become a more serious threat than previously thought in southern India with 100-150 tuskers being lost annually to illegal killings.
Source : http://www.wti.org.in
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