Hundreds of elephants found dead in Botswana

Mystery surrounds the "completely unprecedented" deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana over the last two months.

Dr Niall McCann said colleagues in the southern African country had spotted more than 350 elephant carcasses in the Okavango Delta since the start of May.

No one knows why the animals are dying, with lab results on samples still weeks away, according to the government.

Botswana is home to a third of Africa's declining elephant population.

Warning: Some people may find the following images upsetting

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Dr McCann, of the UK-based charity National Park Rescue, told the BBC local conservationists first alerted the government in early May, after they undertook a flight over the delta.

"They spotted 169 in a three-hour flight," he said. "To be able to see and count that many in a three-hour flight was extraordinary.

"A month later, further investigations identified many more carcasses, bringing the total to over 350."

"This is totally unprecedented in terms of numbers of elephants dying in a single event unrelated to drought," he added.

Back in May, Botswana's government ruled out poaching as a reason - noting the tusks had not been removed, according to Phys.org.

There are other things which point to something other than poaching.

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"It is only elephants that are dying and nothing else," Dr McCann said. "If it was cyanide used by poachers, you would expect to see other deaths."

Dr McCann has also tentatively ruled out natural anthrax poisoning, which killed at least 100 elephants in Bostwana last year.

But they have been unable to rule out either poisoning or disease. 

The way the animals appear to be dying - many dropping on their faces - and sightings of other elephants walking in circles points to something potentially attacking their neurological systems, Dr McCann said.

Either way, without knowing the source, it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a disease crossing into the human population - especially if the cause is in either the water sources or the soil. Dr McCann points to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is believed to have started in animals.

"Yes, it is a conservation disaster - but it also has the potential to be a public health crisis," he said.

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Dr Cyril Taolo, acting director for Botswana's department of wildlife and national parks, told the Guardian they had so far confirmed at least 280 elephants had died, and were in the process of confirming the rest.

However, they did not know what was causing the animals' deaths.

"We have sent [samples] off for testing and we are expecting the results over the next couple of weeks or so," he said.

(Source: BBC)

Kenya coins replace leaders with animals

Kenya has dropped the images of presidents from newly minted cash coins, in what is seen as an attempt to prevent their glorification.

Previous coins bore the images of Kenya's three ex-rulers: Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki.

Many Kenyans saw this as an attempt by their leaders to promote themselves, and to personalise the state.

The new ones have images of the country's famous wildlife, including lions, elephants, giraffes and rhinos.

President Uhuru Kenyatta - the son of Kenya's first leader Jomo Kenyatta - said the new coins were a "big change" and showed "our nation has come a long way".

All three of the incumbent's predecessors had their images printed on the currency during their rule.

Mr Kibaki, who won elections in 2002 ending Mr Moi's 24-year rule, broke a promise not to have his image printed on money.

Notes with images of Kenya's founding leader Jomo Kenyatta are still in circulation

Intense public pressure led to a new constitution, adopted in 2010, to entrench democracy and human rights. It states that the currency "shall not bear the portrait of any individual".

The central bank has fulfilled the requirement in the case of coins, and is likely to do the same when it prints new notes.

The bank said the choice of animals gives "physical expression to a newly reborn and prosperous" Kenya, and shows respect for the environment.

(Source: BBC)

Republicans in Texas apologize for campaign ad likening a Hindu deity to the GOP elephant

To attract Indian-American voters, a Republican party group in suburban Houston released a campaign ad with an image of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu deity.

Published in the India Herald newspaper and sponsored by the Fort Bend County Republican Party, the ad played on the animal symbols for the Democratic and Republican parties. It read: "Would you worship a donkey or an elephant? The choice is yours."

The India Herald, a Texas news outlet, published this ad by the Fort Bend County Republicans.

The ad was published on September 12, a day before the start of Ganesh Chaturthi, a 10-day Hindu festival which celebrates the birth of Ganesha.

Now, after a backlash from Hindu-Americans who said the ad was inappropriate, the Fort Bend Republicans have issued an apology, saying they never intended to offend anyone.

'Despicable and offensive'
"While we appreciate the Fort Bend County GOP's attempt to reach out to Hindus on an important Hindu festival, its ad — equating Hindus' veneration of the Lord Ganesha with choosing a political party based on its animal symbol — is problematic and offensive," said Rishi Bhutada, a board member with the Hindu American Foundation, in a statement this week.

"Using religious imagery in order to explicitly appeal for political support should best be avoided by any political party."

Sri Preston Kulkarni, an Indian-American and the Democratic nominee for Texas' 22nd Congressional District, shared the ad on Twitter and Facebook while condemning its choice of words.

"Asking Hindu-Americans if they would rather vote for a donkey or an elephant by comparing Ganesha, a religious figure, to a political party is highly inappropriate," Kulkarni tweeted.

On Facebook, Kulkarni said the ad implied Hindu-Americans should vote for the Republican party because its symbol is an elephant. He asked for the party to retract the ad and apologize to the community.

Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American candidate for the US House of Representatives from Minnesota's Fifth District, followed Preston Kulkarni's tweet with her own, calling the ad "despicable and offensive."

Despicable and offensive. @GOP resorts to attacks rooted in ignorance and bigotry because their platform lacks substance.

That’s why we’re voting them out in November. Donate, volunteer, and vote for candidates like Sri. Let’s bring some integrity to Congress. https://t.co/tuHfA6Oakg

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 19, 2018

'We offer our sincerest apologies'
Nearly 20% of the population in Fort Bend County is Asian-American.

In a statement obtained by CNN, the county's Republican Party chairman says their main objective was to celebrate and knowledge the Hindu holiday.

"The ad was not meant to disparage Hindu customs or traditions in any way," said the chairman, Jacey Jetton.

"This ad was created with input from those of Hindu faith so that we could properly pay respect to the sacred festival. This highlights the difficulty in outreach that can be positive for one group but not for another in the same community," Jetton added. "We offer our sincerest apologies to anyone that was offended by the ad. Obviously, that was not the intent."

(Source: CNN)

Lankan diaries: Habarana elephant back ride

On the second day, we were supposed to visit Pinnawala elephant orphanage, Sigiriya Rock Fortress and go on elephant safari in Habarana. We left Paradise Beach Hotel at 9 am and proceeded towards Pinnawala.

After travelling about 25 km, we realized that our shoulder bag with passports and money had been left behind at the hotel reception. The driver called the hotel and confirmed that the bag was found and the staff had kept it with them. When we asked if someone could get the bag to our next stop, i.e., Pinnawala, the driver said nobody would do that. When we said we can pay the guy to bring the bag to us, he himself readily agreed to go back to the hotel to fetch the bag.

After getting the bag, the driver said he has wasted 25 km and cannot take us to Pinnawala or to Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Instead he took us to do elephant back ride at Habarana. Whereas Pinnawala is only 73 km from Negambo, he drove us to Habarana in a different route. When we asked about the distance between Negambo and Habarana, he said 190 km, and so did the itinerary, while the actual distance was only 149 km!

Elephant ride
When we reached the place, we saw a couple riding on the back of an elephant wading through a small pond nearby. My kid looked excited to see such a big mammal.

Riding on the back of an elephant can be an incredible experience. And doing it in Lanka can be amazing opportunity to be not only close to the majestic beast, but also to enjoy the views of nature and wild life. Moreover, an elephant ride gives us a chance to observe the surroundings in a closer proximity other than getting to know and share a day in the life of an elephant.

Very well-tamed elephants are usually used for such safaris and a mahout accompanies the jumbo. During the safari, we sat in a wooden saddle, a basket like enclosure fixed upon a wooden platform, placed on the back of the elephant. Four people can sit in the saddle at a time.

Slowly, the elephant started to walk with the mahout. It crossed the shores of the lake and then we were alerted to bend down a bit. When the jumbo was passing under a big tree we bent down to avoid being knocked by the branches of the trees along the path. The guy accompanying the mahout kept clicking our pics.

The mahout told us that the elephant we were riding on was a female, and her name was Sita. She was 40-years old and was put for training when she was 8-years old.

Black cormorants

On the way, the mahout stopped the elephant so that we could feed the jumbo with some cucumbers which we had purchased earlier. We saw some fishermen with their catches. On a tree there were so many black cormorants and I was even able to spot a Kingfisher!

Kingfisher

Usually, while riding on the back of an elephant and we can not only enjoy the natural surroundings and wildlife of the area, but also observe the behaviors and the habitats of the giant mammal on the earth.

Elephant’s relationship with mahout
Though it’s exciting to see how obedient an elephant can be once tamed, it also hurts to know that they are separated from their mothers in their childhood to be trained. Surpassing the massive physical strength of this giant animal in the wild, the mahout is capable of handling it by giving verbal commands in a special language and using a weapon called “ankush”, or the “goad”.

A mahout and the elephant share an amazing relationship always. George Orwell discusses this strong relationship between the two in his essay “Shooting an Elephant”: “It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone ‘must’. It had been chained up, as tame elephants always are when their attack of 'must' is due, but on the previous night it had broken its chain and escaped. Its mahout, the only person who could manage it when it was in that state, had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong direction and was now twelve hours' journey away...”

Even mahouts are trained!
Not all can become mahouts. Just getting close or speaking to an elephant is not enough. He has to be constantly with his animal. It’s more or less like a soulmate, a partner to him. I think no other animal is cared and guarded in the way a jumbo is!

Like an elephant even a mahout is trained to be one. Usually, the skills are hereditary. They are passed down from one generation to another, from a father to his son.  But that does not stop new apprentices from trying the job.

Apprentices undergo a strict regimen of training like how to feed, bathe and look after the elephants, command them with not only words, but also with weapons. It’s almost like a guru-shisya parampara. The student or an apprentice has to please the teacher or the senior mahout to learn the tricks of the trade. He has to help the senior mahout in fetching water, bringing food and helping him in bathing the elephants.

Taming the wild jumbo spirit  
Taming jumbos was considered to be a highly regarded job by Sinhala rulers. Taming and training a wild elephant is not an easy job. To quench the spirit of the wild animal, it is tied in a place and constantly exposed to humans and other tamed elephants. Trainers talk to it while touching it by hand or by using the leaves and branches of the trees. The animal is starved and not allowed to sleep. Deprived of food and sleep, the wild elephant subdues.

Once under control, the jumbo is offered water and food. Since jumbos love to bathe and play in water, the newly tamed elephant is taken for a long bath. A captive jumbo is usually given a 3-4 hours bath every day.

Some beetle like insects feasting on elephant dung

Goading the animal
To control and train the wild animals, mahouts use goads or ankush, sticks, spears and chains. There are about 90 sensitive or goading points and a mahout has to master them all. If a jumbo is goaded in the wrong way in a wrong place, the reactions could be adversary.

Once trained well, the elephants need not be goaded always. Some expert mahouts don’t require either goads or commands to say things to their animal. The kind and level of understanding between the duo is such that the mahout just sits on the elephant and merely taps the animal with his feet to do certain things.

Different lingo
They also command them by certain Sinhalese words used in the country by all the mahouts. In Habarana, the mahout used words like “daha” (walk or rise from sleeping position), “diga” or “daha diga” (stretch forelegs forward), “ida” (move to a side), “deri” (pick up with trunk), “hida” (lie down), etc.

Feeding a cucumber after the ride

In India, I have heard mahouts in Mysore using the words like “dhoom” (listen), “aghath” (move forwards), “zook” (bend), “daali” (salute), “barshuup” (fill the trunk with water and drink), “tool maar” (kick), “maar” (push), “nitt” (extend the legs), “bait” (sit), “titch” (leave), “sarak” (come back), “chai” (move), etc. The language is a blend of Bengali, Urdu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi.

Back ride not a safari
After 30 minutes, we came back. It was not a safari, but was just a back ride. My little one gave one cucumber to the elephant after the ride. Instead of taking us to a forest, our driver had taken us to a private farm where the guy owned two elephants that carried tourists to and fro on the shores of a small pond. It was too late for us to realize our driver's cheating! 

In the excitement, we didn’t realize it was a private farm. The guy asked us to pay Rs 3,500 for each person. When we told the driver that the price was little too much, he insisted that’s the cheapest fare and they charge even more for Westerners, $60, i.e., around 9,250 Sri Lankan Rupees to be precise!

The receipt handed over to us says $60 per person

After a few minutes of negotiation, the guy agreed for Rs 2,600 for each person for 30 minutes ride on the elephant. He handed over two receipts, which had no name of the place or the address or whatsoever, but had only the price in USD!

Our driver Alex looked happy that we went on elephant ride. Little did we realize that he was pocketing commission from that person there! So just be careful and know the places before heading towards Lanka.

Kasapa Lion Rock Hotel
Later, we went to stay overnight in the Kasapa Lion Rock Hotel, facing the magnificent Sigiriya rock in the small village Digampathaha.

Sigiriya rock seen from the hotel

The deluxe suite room or the spacious chalet as the hotel staff call it, we stayed had a beautiful open air bathroom giving a perfect ambiance for our comfortable two-night stay.

My little one running with his dad towards the chalet

The pool just right in front of our room made it even more alluring. Even though it was getting dark, my kid just wanted to play in the swimming pool and he absolutely loved it.

The pool right in front of our room

They have some amazing and friendly in-house chefs and the buffet dinner and breakfast were absolutely mouthwatering and yum.  

Elephants mourn. Dogs love. Why do we deny the feelings of other species?

Scientists are discovering more and more about the internal lives of animals. But what does this mean for the way humans behave? 

Last week footage of five young elephants being captured in Zimbabwe to sell to zoos travelled round the world. Parks officials used helicopters to find the elephant families, shot sedatives into the young ones, then hazed away family members who came to the aid of the drugged young ones as they fell.

The film, shared exclusively with the Guardian, showed the young captives being trussed up and dragged on to trucks. In the final moments of footage, two men repeatedly kick a small dazed elephant in the head.

Removing young elephants from their parents and sending them into captivity is largely justified on the basis that they do not feel and suffer as we do. For decades we have been admonished against anthropomorphism – imbuing animals with human-type emotions such as sadness or love.

But, actually, humans have these emotions because other animals do as well. Brain science, evolutionary biology, and behavioural science now show that elephants, humans, and many other animals share a near-identical nervous system and likely experience near-identical basic emotions. Human and elephant brains are bathed in the same chemicals that create mood and motivation in us. We are all mammals, and under the skin we are kin.

Scientists have watched rats’ brains as they dream, and dogs’ brains showing love. In fact, sperm whales’ family structure is nearly identical to that of elephants. Animals living in stable social groups – apes and monkeys, wolves and wild dogs, hyenas and cats, various birds, some dolphins and others, know who they are and whom they are with.

Mammals and birds, likely all vertebrates, experience pleasure, pain, and fear that guide them within the boundaries of survival. Octopuses are molluscs but they recognise human faces and use tools as well as most apes. Pet dogs recognise photos of people they know. Orcas frequently live into their 50s (rarely to 100), but sons and daughters never leave their mothers. Similar revelations and new discoveries appear with increasing frequency. Ours are not the only hearts and minds on this planet. We are not alone. We have company.

Our favourite story is that humans are absolutely unique and special in every way.
I have spent decades amassing insights into animal cognition, emotion, and family lives. For that, elephants provide a perfect trifecta. Elephants actually have superhuman senses, so life for elephants is likely superhumanly vivid. Their hearing is far better than ours, and while we hear their pealing trumpeting, they communicate largely with sounds too low for humans to detect. Often when you are near elephants you can feel vibrations in your chest from their loud rumbling calls that you cannot hear. Using special sensory receptors in their feet – unlike anything we possess – they can detect these rumbles from many miles away. This is probably why elephants often seem to know when distant elephants are being killed, and why they have been spotted running uphill before humans when a tsunami is on its way.

Elephants are most touching with the care they devote to their young and siblings. Several years ago in Kenya’s Amboseli national park, Dr Vicki Fishlock and I watched elephant families on their daily commute. Some of the elephants bathed in a spring-fed pool, but when they emerged shiny and wet, one stay-behind adult had not yet entered the water. Her baby was hesitant. The mother was patient, tapping the water with her trunk as if to indicate her intention. We watched the patient mother enter the water with her baby. The baby got alongside, wrapping her trunk around her mother’s right tusk for support. Soon the water floated the baby, and the mother, with her own trunk, guided her child to the farther shore.

Mothers and aunties help newborns stand; babies spend their first several years within two paces of their mother; family members rush to help any baby who tangles in tall grass, or trips, or announces need of help. (Babies sometimes exploit their power for getting attention; in humans we call this being spoilt.) Elephant mothers and daughters stay together longer than any land animal – often 40 to 60 years. Elephants know and keep track of hundreds of individuals and dozens of families. Some families are particularly good friends and often visit and spend time together. If unfamiliar elephants show up, they immediately notice. They know who they are, whom they are with, who their enemies are, and where they are. They don’t just exist – they have lives.

Breaking these extraordinary care-bonds triggers intense emotional suffering for elephants, explains Cynthia Moss, who has studied elephants for more than 40 years. Dr Gay Bradshaw, in Elephants on the Edge, argues persuasively that elephants’ brain chemistry makes them experience post-traumatic stress identically to humans. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who has half a century’s experience with traumatised orphans, told me matter of factly: “An elephant can die of grief.” She has seen it.

The fact is that elephants are acutely conscious. The neuroscientist Christof Koch defines consciousness simply as “the thing that feels like something”. When we are given total anaesthesia, or are “knocked unconscious”, we lose the experience of all sensory input. We cease to feel, hear, see. Regaining consciousness simply means we again experience our sensory input, quite as if our senses had been unplugged from our brain and then reconnected.

Why do we deny and ignore the feelings of other species against everything science and our own senses show us? Two reasons: our favourite story is that humans are absolutely unique and special in every way. Acknowledging that other animals have mental and emotional experiences spoils our conceit. The other reason: denying that other animals feel allows us to do to them whatever we want.

In 1789, Jeremy Bentham pointed out that only one question about what we do to animals really matters. “The question is not, can they reason?; nor, can they talk?; but, can they suffer?” Charles Darwin wryly noted: “Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.” He hated human slavery, too.

I have seen free-living elephants show most of the virtues and none of the avarice that we show to one another. Their major self-governing principle is not just live and let live, but live and help live. They live in better resonance with themselves and their world. I came away changed.

(Source: The Guardian)

Meet the only female mahout in the world

As a little girl, this daughter of a zamindar in Assam hated playing with dolls. As a young woman she chose to live and work in the midst of her elephant family and today she has distinguished herself as perhaps the only female mahout in the world.

Meet Parbati, a female mahout who tames elephants, uses ash instead of toothpaste, sleeps inside a tent on a threadbare mattress without a pillow and with tools of her trade all around her. In this excerpt from My Half Of The Sky, published by Sage Publications, author Indrani Raimedhi talks to Parbati about her life in the wild.

Parbati Barua is elusive, mysterious, larger-than-life. As a little girl, this daughter of a zamindar (landowner) in Assam hated playing with dolls. She loved the great outdoors and played with elephants and horses instead! Like her father, who was known for his legendary expertise and knowledge on elephants, Parbati, too, was unable to stay away from the gentle giants. As a young woman she chose to live and work in the midst of her elephant family and today she has distinguished herself as perhaps the only female mahout in the world. In this excerpt from My Half Of The Sky, published by Sage Publications, author Indrani Raimedhi talks to Parbati about her life in the wild.

When you learn of Parbati’s life in the jungles, which makes her vulnerable to the elements, the heat of the summer sun to the biting cold of winter, pelting rain, and fog, and the attendant troubles—living with the most basic of amenities and subjecting the body to cruel privations—you feel a great respect for her, more so because of the fact that she was born the daughter of a zamindar and could have led a life of indolence, even extravagance, filling her days with frivolous amusements.

To understand her, you have to know where she comes from…

Parbati Barua, perhaps the only female mahout in the world,
has spent years among elephants, talking to them, feeding them,
bathing them in the river, even singing to them. (Courtesy: Sage Publications)

Gauripur lies in a forgotten corner of India, a small town on the western side of the district headquarter, Dhubri. The Gadadhar flows gently by the main town on its eastern flanks. There is a lake on the northwest named Laokhowa beel and on the northeast, by the river bank, is a small hilltop called Motiabagh on which the Hawakhana palace is located. This is where Parbati’s life began.

“I was named Parbati, the mother of Ganesh, the elephant headed God. When I was only 1 month and 17 days old, our father broke journey from Shillong to Gauripur and halted at an elephant camp in Damra. That was only the beginning. All through our childhood years, father took us to stay in these camps, seven to eight months a year. We all went along—my father had four wives, we took with us 70 servants, including cooks, a doctor, a barber, and a tailor. A tutor accompanied us so that our studies were not interrupted. We lived with these gentle giants and their handlers in a kind of paradise. We rose at dawn and helped in preparing fodder for the elephants. We keenly observed all the activities at the camp. Well-trained elephants called Kunkies (koonkies) drove away wild rogue elephants and this saved the villagers. The men in the camp shifted troublesome wild elephants to other areas to avoid overcrowding, tamed elephants to uproot lantana creepers, and removed fallen trees on the roads. The elephants were even lent to timber merchants for logging operations. My father loved elephants more than his life, and he paid close attention to every aspect of their well-being, including massages, bathing in the river, treating of ailments, and their diet. They were fed green gram, digestive mixtures, herbal potions, salt, jaggery, besides plantain and grass. We saw how the handlers trained new elephants with treats and light taps on the legs and head to make them understand the instructions. The leg chain, bedi or collar, and the neck chain were tested to see that the elephants were not hurt. In the evenings, we would sit with father and the mahouts. There would be long discussions on matters related to the camp. We were expected to listen attentively and pick up tips. Many wonderful stories about elephants were also narrated. In this way nature became our university, and I, its most ardent pupil.”

It was no surprise, therefore, that at age 14, she caught her first wild adult tusker. How could a mere child achieve this? “Catching an elephant is not a matter of brute strength,” she explained. “It’s all in the mind and some amount of luck.”

She caught this pachyderm in the Kachugaon forests in Kokrajhar district. Till date she treasures the two words her father joyfully uttered after her brave feat, “Shabbash beti!”

That was only the beginning. Parbati chose to live and work in the midst of her beloved elephant family. It takes a lot of patience, perseverance, and dedication to tame elephants. Catching a wild elephant is an extremely risky job. They are captured by throwing a lasso around their heads. The process of training is very slow. It takes about six months of gentle coaxing to win the beast over.

Parbati’s three pachyderm daughters are Lakshmimala, Aloka, and Kanchanmala. The trio and a team of coworkers lead an unusual and adventurous life. Different states like Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam request her help in tackling rogue tuskers or tend to those who are injured/ailing. She is consulted on elephant management policies, in controlling capturing wild herds, driving out wild herds from urban areas, and training mahouts.

“In my job, there are no retakes,” she states grimly. “Every time I go to the forests, I think of it as my last trip. But as a mahout, I can never retire.”

When she is not working, Parbati loves to dress up decorously in mekhela chador (Assamese female attire) or sari. But the time for action sees her radically transformed. She is then togged out in faded jeans, combat jacket with shiny brass buttons, a solar topee, and sunglasses to shield her eyes. Tucked in her waistband is a khukri. She even chews a bit of tobacco. Appearance is important for her beloved pachyderms too. She tenderly decorates their foreheads with chalk.

Going by her attire, it is not hard to discern that Parbati is a die-hard fan of westerns. Her heroes are rugged men like Charles Bronson and John Wayne. She also loves to watch war movies. Her favorite movies are The Magnificent Seven, High Noon, and How the West Was Won.

Her life in the wild is bereft of modern conveniences. She uses ash instead of toothpaste, sleeps inside a tent, on a threadbare mattress, that too without any pillows. She keeps by her bedside a sepia-tinted photo of her father Lalji in his youth. And all around her are ropes, chains, khukris (a sharp knife), stirrups—the tools of her trade.

Indrani Raimedhi, author of ‘My Half of the Sky’, has penned
the inspirational life stories of 12 courageous women from
the north east in the book. (Courtesy: Sage Publications)

“There are many rituals in our work,” she explains. “These have been handed down for generations. Every journey begins with a puja to Goddess Kali, Ganesh, Saatshikari—the patron goddess of forests and Muslim saint Mahout Pir.”

(Source: The Better India)