Corbett Park elephant attacks tourist vehicle: Change in nature of man-animal conflict augurs badly for future

In the latest and one of the scariest documented manifestations of man-animal conflict in India, a fully-grown tusker is seen repeatedly attacking a safari vehicle packed with tourists in the famous Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. It may be recalled that last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited this place in connection with a film documentary shoot.

A rattled forest department of Uttarakhand has initiated an inquiry into the incident. “We are taking the matter very seriously,” said Rahul, field director of Corbett Tiger Reserve. The nerve-wracking attack on the tourist vehicle took place on Saturday afternoon in the Jhirna range of Corbett Park.

According to several eyewitnesses, the elephant suddenly appeared from the bushes and charged headlong at the Maruti Gypsy. As luck would have it, the driver failed to move the vehicle in time. Yet another witness — the driver of another vehicle that had reached the spot — said that the rear wheel of the Gypsy got stuck in a pothole and refused to move.

Alarmed at the panic-stricken shouts by the tourists (three men and a woman), the Gypsy driver and their guide, other vehicles in the vicinity rushed to the spot. This was when everybody realised to their horror that it was not a mock elephant charge, but a real one unfolding before them. At one crucial moment, the petrified tourists, as well as the driver, jumped out of the vehicle while the elephant tried to overturn it from the other side. This could have been a fatal error. In March last, senior Indian Forest Service officer and field director of Karnataka’s Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, S Manikandan, was trampled to death inside the reserve by a wild elephant.

Corbett Tiger Reserve’s field director Rahul said they were still trying to ascertain the real reason behind the incident in the Jhirna zone of the park. “Whatever lapses are found in our inquiry, we will take strict action. If we find the Gypsy driver to be at fault, his vehicle will be banned from entering our reserve. We are also monitoring the movement of this particular tusker,” he added.

However, the question remains: Why did this elephant go beyond a mere mock charge — something tuskers do all across India to scare away humans, and instead follow it up with an actual assault on the vehicle? In all likelihood, this could be a grave pointer to the sort of things to come. This incident goes beyond the broad man-animal conflict paradigm that is quite common in many regions of India.

The usual man-animal conflict occurs when, for a variety of reasons, animals leave their natural habitat and enter the human zone, whether this is elephants in the Sonitpur district of Assam, leopards in the far-flung villages of Uttarakhand’s Garhwal and Kumaon regions in search of goats and similar prey, and blue-bulls and wild-boars running amuck in the agriculture fields of Uttar Pradesh. But in the national parks and sanctuaries, it’s the humans who have caused the animals to become aggressive — like this particular tusker of Corbett Tiger Reserve.

In May last year, the Uttarakhand High Court had put a cap on the number of tourist vehicles entering Corbett Tiger Reserve. As per the ruling, only 30 vehicles can go for a single safari inside the Jhirna zone of the reserve.

But just as a map is not the territory, the court order and its thorough implementation are two different things. Even 30 vehicles, in case a tiger or an elephant comes in sight, are enough to create a crowd of vehicles and make it difficult for the animal to move away.

In the elephant charge of Saturday, it’s not clear whether the presence of so many vehicles compounded the problem or helped in saving the tourists. By some accounts, the shouts and general commotion created by the vehicle scared the elephant away and it moved off without inflicting actual harm.

It’s not fair to put the blame entirely on the tourism, says wildlife expert Imran Khan from Uttarakhand. “The global climate change is causing changes even in the life-cycles of animals. Their breeding, sleeping and other patters have altered significantly. We need to further study these new aspects of the animal kingdom,” he pointed out.

Nature photographer, Padma Shri awardee and a member of the Uttarakhand Wildlife Board, Anup Shah, too feels that there has been a marked change in the behaviour of wildlife. “Till very recently, I would come across leopards behind my house in Nainital and they would always disappear into the undergrowth. But now, they confront us. I can’t say why this is happening, but the change is definitely there. But yes, villages situated on the border of Corbett Tiger Reserve often have skirmishes with wild elephants. No wonder the elephants are losing their cool,” he said.

So far, animals have suffered most in their conflict with the humans — whether in the form of shrinking forest cover or a depleting prey base. Once in a while an exception occurs; a big mammal not easily intimidated puts its foot down forcefully and seems to say “Enough is enough”. One hopes it does not become the rule.