Already endangered, the Asian elephants of Orissa have been forced into a daily battle against the alarming number of man made threats that surround them.
Poaching, electrocution, habitat loss and starvation are just some of the dangers that characterise their unfolding nightmare. Already more than 500 elephants have died in the region since 1990, and without help they could easily vanish altogether.
In response, Elephant Family has launched a targeted appeal to help the elephants of Orissa win their fight for survival. The focus of the appeal is to provide urgently needed Rapid Response Teams to immediately tackle the threats.
The teams will establish a vital network of communication amongst villages living next to wild and starving herds. By collaborating with the Forest Department, these local communities will be empowered to become more involved with conservation by preventing poaching and minimising the risk of forest fires that deplete the elephant’s food sources.
Working with local communities, the Rapid Response Teams can keep one step ahead of the poachers. They will also record every lethal, low-hanging electricity line in the state and will force the power companies responsible to rectify them.
Vital relationships with heavy industries will be forged by the teams to ensure that the construction of highways, irrigation systems and mining can develop without wiping out the remaining elephants who share the landscape.
With your help we can reverse the alarming increase of threats to the elephants of Orissa.
Project: Saving the elephants of East-Central India
Aim:
The goal of this project is to save the elephants of east-central India, by ensuring that deaths caused by human actions are significantly reduced.
Results:
The Asian elephant’s struggle has become highly visible as populations contend with the spread of settlements and farming, and the demands of rapidly developing nations with equally rapid population growth. Within Orissa State in particular, extensive mining for iron ore and associated canals and irrigation systems have recently carved up the area, trapping elephants in areas too small to sustain them. Considered the “troubled” elephants of India, those that survive are stressed, and are regularly seen bearing scars from their encounters with people.
With elephant herds trapped in an area of land too small to support them – and with human-elephant conflict at unprecedented levels – drastic action is called for. Working with the Wildlife Protection Society of India the project aims for better protection of the east-central landscape, benefitting numerous other species and encouraging the return of wildlife to areas where it has already been lost. We are addressing the negative impacts of mining, heavy industry and irrigation, and working to reduce elephant deaths from electrocution by low-hanging power lines throughout the state. As more habitat links, water-harvesting structures and elephant ramps (for crossing irrigation canals) are developed, local communities should see less disturbance from crop-raiding elephants.
As well as regenerating the elephants’ food supply and giving them accessible sources of water, it will build awareness – and support – amongst mine workers, villagers and truck drivers in the area.
Status:
Supported since 2005
