Prisoner's Dilemma

This conundrum would give the UN sleepless nights. The prisoner is a hardened murdererwhose rampages have terrorised two states. Even as his guards attempt to return him tocivilisation, an observer accuses them of maltreating their captive.

It ’s a problem of, well, elephantine dimensions. Imprisoned in the heart of theNilgiri woods is a 40 - year-old jumbo whose genes a re programmed Attila-fashion,settings permanently on "pillage and destroy". This makhna (a bullelephant without tusks) is a natural rogue. He’s plundered crops in search of asnack, bulldozed farms at dinnertime, and mowed down all obstacles that come in the way ofa meal—including rifle-wielding farmers and forest guards. His appetite fordestruction has killed at least a dozen people along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border.

Now, held in solitary confinement at an elephant camp in Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu, thecaptive is in the cross-hairs of a controversy. Can he respond to a stick-wielding trainerwhile wounds acquired during his capture are still festering? Should the forest departmenthave turned him over to wildlife conservation groups? And why is his kraal offlimits to visitors and the media?

Accusations fly thick and fast between Deanna Krantz, 49, field director, India Projectfor Animals and Nature (IPAN) and officials at the camp. Krantz, who heads an animalrefuge near the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, spearheaded a campaign that bordered onoverkill: she posted the pachyderm ’s predicament on the Internet, passed videotapeson to television channels, and even had a Jain muni and some schoolchildren petition thecamp to seek the makhna’s release. Officials cast aspersions on Krantz’smotives. "She isn’t doing it as a social worker or out of concern for theelephant," alleges A. Udhayan, wildlife warden at the sanctuary.

A pointer to the intensity of their mutual indignation is that the makhna hasbeen baptised twice. Deanna has christened him Loki, the messenger of love and compassion.The forest officials call him Murthy, after veterinarian Dr V. Krishnamurthy.

The makhna was captured last July at a village about 45 km from Mudumalai.Evading the many previous attempts to drive him back into the sanctuary, he had become afarmer’s worst nightmare. He was wounded during the two-day journey to Mudumalai, ashe struggled to break free from the shackles linking him and four trained elephants.

Initially, Krantz and the staff worked together to treat his injuries. But a sluggishrecovery and confusion over the drugregimen and diet led to a rift. "She used tobring fruits and fodder, but then she tried to gain mileage and dominate us. She startedsaying that you Indians don’t know how to treat this elephant, so we politely toldher to keep away. We have spent Rs 1.75 lakh on his welfare," says an official at thecamp.

Krantz alleges that the forest department team is bankrupt; officials counter that shewas trying to pull in donations from organisations abroad with claims that she wastreating the animal. " Forest department officials are answerable to the people, andmust explain the treatment of elephants at this camp," rejoins the American, whoclaims she is in "empath" with the makhna.

Her husband, Dr Michael Fox, senior scholar (bioethics) at The Humane Society of theUnited States, says: "It’s a case of compassion against inhumanity. The elephantdoes not belong to the Tamil Nadu forest department. We are making collaborativeinitiatives to be involved in proper feeding, proper treatment and to find a sanctuary forLoki."

Udhayan, the wildlife warden, doesn’t understand the fuss. "Most of thewounds have healed. People have risked their lives to treat him. He is getting sufficientfood and is being trained to obey commands. We can’t bring him out of the kraal ifhe is not trained."

But the dramatics have upstaged other major issues—how to cope with rogueelephants, and how to minimise the conflict  between elephants and man."Elephants damage crops worth crores of rupees and kill over 200 people every year inIndia. The farmers’ traditional tolerance of wildlife depredations is waning. Theman-animal conflict is inevitable," says Professor Raman Sukumar, director of AsianElephant Research and Conservation Centre, Bangalore.

Wildlife experts the world over are already concerned about the sharp decline in thenumber of Asian elephants, caused by poaching, fragmentation of the habitat, andencroachment on forest land. India is believed to have just 17,000 to 22,000 elephants,with the number of herds migrating into new habitats going up in recent years. Hence theincrease in the number of animal-man conflicts.

Experts feel that forest officials ought to work on methods to avert an elephant-manconflict—drive the animal far back into the forest, improve capture and translocationtechniques, or build foolproof barriers.

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions for man-man conflicts. Which still leavesKrantz and the sanctuary officials in the middle of a jumbo-sized wrangle.