"Diamond" Knoxville Zoo 1969 (From Buckles)

Scan10960, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. From John Goodall: EXPERTS MOOT NEW MODE TO KEEP WILD ELEPHANTS AT BAY Bosky Khanna (dnaindia.com) November 16, 2008 BANGALORE: Wild elephants are intelligent. They uproot fully grown trees and hurl them on solar/electric fences erected to deter them from entering fields bordering forests. They wait for a downpour or throw water on chilli-tobacco fences to remove their tangy sting. Then they literally trample across the barrier and feast on the crops. Realising that the pachyderms are a smarter lot, wildlife experts are now suggesting erecting fences built with railway tracks as posts to check them from straying into farm lands. The formula has been tried with a great degree of success in African countries. Elephant expert and Professor of Ecology, IISc R Sukumar said fencing with railway tracks as posts in the vicinity of Addo national park, South Africa has kept wild elephants at bay. And the measure even resulted in the pachyderm population increasing from 31 to 453. Prof Sukumar pointed out that wild elephants don't pull down the entire fence. A fencing made of railway tracks as posts is very difficult for even a wild elephant to pull down. Even the most strongest of the tuskers can at the most damage one post and this can be easily reinforced, he added. Installing a fence with railway tracks as posts costs Rs three lakh for every km as against Rs 1.5 lakh needed for a km-long electric/solar fencing. Besides, the latter needs regular maintenance. Prof Sukumar said a proposal on the new mode of fencing has been placed before the state government for approval. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests P J Dilip Kumar, however, said that the new mode of fencing was an expensive proposal. Sources from Project Elephant in New Delhi said they had received similar proposals from other states like Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where a viable elephant population exists. The proposal is yet to be analyzed. But wildlife experts are clear that such fences, however, must not be erected on elephant corridors which can obstruct their movement. "I may have received this picture from Richard Reynolds, I can't remember for sure." Buckles