musth<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFor this, the rescuer has to get up-close to the rogue jumbo, risking their own lives and administer the shot from a distance. Once the shot hits the mammoth, it is a dangerous wait of minutes before the effect sets in and the mammal is finally sedated. Although risky for the rescuer, it is a humane method of capturing elephants.<\/p>\n
Today, the technique has become a mainstay in wildlife conservation practices in cases of conflict where it is used on elephants as well as other predators like tigers, leopards, and rhinos.<\/p>\n
On a regular day, he spends almost 12 hours at the College of Veterinary Sciences as the Head of the Department of Surgery and Radiology in Guwahati, Assam. His weekends are dedicated to the service of elephants.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/label><\/p>\n\n\u201cHuman-elephant conflict is rising. I am working with NGOs to create awareness among people about how they can save their lives and avoid damage to their properties while ensuring that the elephants are not harmed in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In these efforts, he persuades people to turn to bio-fencing rather than setting up dangerous protection traps. This refers to grow fruit-bearing trees, which ensure that the jumbo is well-fed and wouldn\u2019t need to rampage the property, and thorny varieties, which keep the animals at bay.<\/p>\n
He also coined the idea of turning barren and unused community lands to forests. A number of tuskers venture into human settlements because they have been robbed of their own habitats, the forests. So a lush green reforested area could mean a peace treaty between them and humans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese will be areas that will cultivate vegetation for the elephants and have ample water supply all year long,\u201d says Sarma.<\/h2>\nElephant Man of Asia title from Prof Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam on Convocation of Mahatma Gandhi University on 12.03.2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHe is also working with the electricity board to avoid electrocution of elephants due to sagging power lines and with the Railway authorities to adopt measures to prevent train-hits.<\/p>\n
Notably, the tea industry in Assam is set in elephant habitats.<\/p>\n
\u201cTea-plantation is a monoculture, so it cannot help the elephant\u2019s survival. When they enter the fields, they do not get a single blade of grass to eat. Whatever they eat is doused in herbicides and weedicides. Sometimes the elephants also enter human settlements in tea-garden areas, due to labourers brewing alcohol at home. They consume it and go on a rampage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Climate change also threatens their survival. Elephants are primitive mammals who do not adapt to extreme heat and dry conditions. Yet, the biggest threat to the survival of the jumbos continues to be the human species, he maintains.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAs the population steadily rises, there is a conflict for survival between humans and elephants. Elephants are big mammals that require space and land for vegetation, and humans are competing with them for space. They are encroaching elephant habitats for settlements; industries are exploiting forests for mining, etc. If the loss and fragmentation of their habitat continue, where will the elephants go?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
He has faced a close shave with death almost 20 times, but he hasn\u2019t stopped working with the elephants.<\/h2>\n
He narrates one such incident:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt was in Arunachal Pradesh when I had to capture a rogue bull in musth<\/em>. I hired another rogue bull elephant to reach the spot and intended to park it close by. But we miscalculated the distance. Instead of 2 km away, the rogue bull in musth<\/em> was standing on the embankment we were headed to. When he saw another male rogue bull, he charged towards us with fury. My elephant was scared out of his wits. Despite the short distance, I shot the tranquilising gun. It was a close shave with death. Within 15 minutes, the aggressive rogue was snoring.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nIn the face of such thrills and chills, what keeps the Elephant Doctor going? He answers, \u201cI don\u2019t look at it as work, but fun. I am happiest when I am near elephants. City life doesn\u2019t make me happy. Even at this moment, if you tell me an elephant is trapped or need of help, I will pack my bags and drive to that location.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his final message, he says, \u201cPeople often ask why we should preserve elephants because they do not plough our fields or give us milk. But I believe elephants are our heritage. They are an umbrella species, instrumental in seed dispersal, guarding our forests. They also promise to show us the solution to cancer due to the p 53 genes that don\u2019t cause cancer in them. Without elephants, forests wouldn\u2019t exist, and without forests, we wouldn\u2019t. India is fortunate to have them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also Read:\u00a0<\/span>Abused for Years, Now Rescued: This Temple Elephant\u2019s Story Will Move You to Tears<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nIf this story inspired you, get in touch with Dr K K Sarma on kushalkonwar@gmail.com<\/a> or call him at\u00a09706178268.<\/strong><\/p>\n(Edited by Shruti Singhal)<\/em><\/p>\n