News
Andamans Islands: Do elephants really swim?
February 09, 2009, 5:54PM MT
By Sharon St. Joan
CUPA catches a glimpse of elephants by the sea
CUPA catches a glimpse of elephants by the sea
By Savitha Nagabhushan, Best Friends Network
The Andamans Islands are an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. Part of India, the Andamans lie about 800 miles to the east of the mainland of India and are home to about 300,000 people, about 1,000 of whom are native to the islands. The other residents have emigrated there from the Indian mainland. Some of the islands suffered extensive damage during the Tsunami at the end of 2004.
In November of 2007, a group from CUPA in India (Compassion Unlimited Plus Action), as part of a two year long investigation into the conditions in which captive Indian elephants are kept throughout India, traveled to the Andamans, to look into the situation of the elephants there.
The trip was undertaken by Savitha Nagabhushan, Shiela Rao and Suparna Ganguly, along with Surendra Varma, scientist and researcher on elephants, and Dr. David, a veterinarian, all co-participants in the study of the welfare and science of elephants in captivity.
Savitha, who was along on the trip, is a brilliant photographer, who took some enchanting photos of the elephants on the islands.
How did the elephants get to the Andamans?
Savitha explains that the elephants are not original inhabitants of the Andamans. They were introduced by the British during the colonial era, in the 30's and 40's, when they were transported to the Andamans from the mainland to be used for logging timber.
Eventually, the timber company went bankrupt and abandoned the elephants, who managed to adapt and survive in the forests. Logging of the forests has now been banned, except for occasional logging done by the local government, who still use the elephants for this purpose.
Around forty feral elephants live on Interview Island, to the west of the other Andamans Islands. On Havelock Island, which is part of the Ritchie Archipelago to the east, a few elephants are kept in a camp located not far from the sea that is run by the Forest Department, including the two that Savitha captured with her camera one day around noon as they were frolicking along the beach.
Altogether there are about 100 elephants in the Andamans.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation (ANIFPDC) owns about thirty elephants, which are used for safaris for tourists. Most of the elephants owned by the FPDC are in three locations – Ferarganj, in the south Andamans, Kadamtalla, in the middle Andamans, and Mohanpur in the north Andamans. They are sometimes also used for logging.
The tourist elephants carry visitors along a scenic route that runs by several waterfalls. The ANIFPDC was set up in the 70's by the Indian government to manage the remote forests in the Andamans in a sustainable way and to cultivate certain crops, such as rubber and red palm oil. The felling of naturally grown trees has been banned in India, although, sadly, both legal and illegal logging still take place on a significant scale.
Swimming elephants!
The elephants on Interview Island lead on adventurous life! Did you know that elephants can swim? They don't just wade in the surf a little to get their toes wet. The feral elephants swim across the ocean to raid village crops on other islands! The logging elephants are also led, for logging purposes, from island to island. Then, their expedition over, they return home to their island, the same day or the next, across the sea! Suparna Ganguly writes about the elephants:
"The naturally swimming elephants travel between Interview Island and Diglipur, twenty kilometers (twelve miles) away. A documentary filmmaker named Naim Hafizka, has made a wonderful documentary film on this unique behavior of elephants.
"The two in the photos are from a place called Kala Pather. Both juveniles, they are five-year old Vijaylaxmi and eight-year old Vijaykumari, who live with their mothers, Mummy and Indira. Their lives seemed idyllic but, unfortunately, they are not left free very often. There is a tradition of not leaving elephants free to graze or play. This was a rare moment, which brought a lot of joy to them and to all who were watching them!"
Take a look at this BBC video (not of the same two elephants)--then come back again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpD40ewOyC4
Life for the thousands of captive elephants in India; however, is far different from this captivating picture. You can read about their lives in an amazing book, "Gods in Chains," published by CUPA. Please see below for the website.
On the Andamans Islands though, these magnificent beings do have some measure of freedom to live an unfettered existence--to enjoy the shore, nature and the sea.
Two of Savitha's extraordinary photos of elephants and beautiful views of nature will be available on Art International--with more to come in the future.
Thanks to Suparna Ganguly and Savitha Nagabhushan of CUPA for their very helpful contributions to this story. Any errors are mine, not theirs.
Photos: Savitha Nagabhushan / CUPA
What you can do
To learn more about elephants in India, please go to
http://www.godsinchains.com
http://www.cupabangalore.org/wrrc.htm
Stay tuned to see more of Savitha Nagabhushan's photos soon on the Network Community Art International. To see two of the photos above in poster form, please go to
http://network.bestfriends.org/artinternational/news/32036.html
http://network.bestfriends.org/artinternational/news/32035.html