Securing the Future for Elephants in India - Ministry of Environment ...

Public hearings were organized at the Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Bengaluru, the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, and by the
State Forest Departments in Guwahati and in Bhubaneshwar. A
hearing for the Northern Region was held at the Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Delhi. All help given is deeply appreciated.
The communities of elephant conservation and captive elephant care
in India may be small but are diverse, some times vocal and always
vibrant. It is a matter of satisfaction that the Task Force received as
many as 121 written submissions, some very detailed and meticulous.
The Hearings were marked by extensive, open debate and often
yielded very valuable insights and suggestions that (we hope) inform
the tone and tenor of this Report.
Several individuals, scientists and foresters, students and scholars,
Mahouts and farmers, Panchayat representatives and cultivators,
elephant lovers and vets, as well as members of a host of voluntary
citizens’ groups informally contributed through sustained
conversations, by e mail, in phone and more so in person. These
diverse voices are evidence enough of how many people will for sheer
feeling for the cause stay with the issues raised here long after this
Report has been submitted. We are grateful to them all, most so to
those we met on field visits. We have tried in some small way to
suggest platforms where their energy can contribute not only to
dialogue but to ways to generate working approaches to the problems
faced by the subject of our Report, the elephant.
The Wildlife Trust of India provided a base for meetings of the
editorial team. Several members of the staff contributed in myriad
ways to enabling this report to be put together. In particular, I would
be failing in my duty if I do not thank by name those whose help was
invaluable. Sandeep Kumar Tiwari has been a constant presence with
his boundless energy. John Kunjukunju, Sheren Shreshtha, and last but
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