cruel animals of Malappuram !

Cruelty is pleasure in inflicting suffering or inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available.   Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involve violence, but affirmative violence is not necessary for an act to be cruel. For example, if a person is drowning and begging for help and another person is able to help with no cost or risk, but is merely watching with disinterest or perhaps mischievous amusement, that person is being cruel—rather than violent.

Our hearts cry on seeing an elephant standing in water – as stated above, one need not rush to get it out of water but just stand with heads down in utter shame for it was mankind’s cruelty that made this gentle giant stand in water and die with suffering.  Man is the most cruel animal and perhaps only Hammurabi Code should be searched upon to give proper punishment to its perpetrator.

The media often portrays African countries as poor, strife-torn, lawless suffering States.  In Ethiopia, ethnic tensions and violence are on the rise. Ethnic conflicts are not new, but the levels of violence being witnessed today are very disturbing.

This is no post on human conflicts but humans killing others and animals. Poachers have killed at least six elephants in a single day in Ethiopia, wildlife officials said on Tuesday, the largest such slaughter in memory in the east African nation. The elephants died last week, when they ventured out of the Mago National Park in the far south of Ethiopia to drink water, Ganabul Bulmi, the park’s chief warden, told reporters. “The poachers then removed all the tusks from the elephants. It was a mass killing. We haven’t seen anything like this before,” he said. Two other elephants might have been killed the same day, and an investigation continues.

According to wildlife officials, Ethiopia had more than 10,000 elephants in the 1970s but poaching and habitat degradation have reduced the number to about 2,500 to 3,000 in recent years. Officials suspect that most elephant tusks and finished products are slipped out of the country to China and south-east Asian countries. In 2015, Ethiopian officials burned 6.1 tonnes of illegal elephant tusks, ivory trinkets, carvings and various forms of jewellery to discourage poaching and the ivory trade. Across Africa, the Covid-19 pandemic has provided opportunities for poachers, with security forces diverted to other tasks. Combined with the absence of visitors, this has left many reserves vulnerable.

Even poachers can be spared but not these ruthless criminals of Kerala – the gentleness displayed by the poor elephant makes us cry and leave us dumb. The female elephant which reportedly was pregnant elephant in unbearable pain, did not harm anybody, did not crush any objects, but  walked to the Velliyar River, and stood with her mouth and trunk in the water. She probably felt this would give her some relief, and alas passed away a cruel death. 

Article 51-A (g) of the Indian Constitution says that it shall be duty of every citizen of India to have compassion for living creatures. The pregnant elephant in pic was killed in human- wildlife conflict. But where lies our duty? N humanity?? – asks the tweet of Kerala Forest Dept.  The State has no answer.

Malappuram is the  first municipality in the district formed in 1969.  Malappuram is situated 54 km southeast of Calicut and 90 km northwest of Palakkad. Its people committed the most abhorrent crime.  News reports state that an  elephant that was pregnant died in Kerala, standing in water, last Wednesday, after she faced one of the most brutal forms of animal abuse. She ate a pineapple filled with firecracker, allegedly placed by some locals. The fruit exploded in her mouth, leading to the inevitable tragedy. The incident came to light after a forest officer narrated the details of the horrific death on social media.

The wild elephant had left the forests of Silent Valley in Palakkad district, meandering into a nearby village in search of food. Pineapples with country-made crackers had been used by locals to protect their fields against wild boars. According to forest officials, the elephant is suspected to have eaten a pineapple. The elephant walked around in the village, in searing pain and in hunger. "She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months," forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant, wrote on Facebook.

So powerful was the cracker explosion in her mouth that her tongue and mouth were badly injured. The elephant walked around in the village, in searing pain and in hunger. She was unable to eat anything because of her injuries. "She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village. She didn't crush a single home. This is why I said, she is full of goodness," Mr Krishnan wrote in an emotional note in Malayalam, along with photos of the elephant.

The elephant eventually walked up to the Velliyar River and stood there. Photos showed the elephant standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in water, perhaps for some relief from the unbearable pain. The forest officer said she must have done this to avoid flies and other insects on her injuries. The forest officials brought two captive elephants, Surendran and  Neelakanthan, to lead her out of the river. "But I think she had a sixth sense. She didn't let us do anything," Mohan Krishnan wrote. After hours of attempts by the officials to rescue the elephant, she died at 4 pm on May 27, standing in water.

Killing an elephant after badly injuring her tongue and mouth – how barbaric humans are !  The elephant was taken back inside the forest in a truck, where the forest officials cremated her.  Mankind needs to bow for the cruelty afflicted on her.  Please forgive us for the cruelty .. ..

With profound grief

S. Sampathkumar

3.6.2020