Did Anyone Else See The National Geo Special Called "Elephant Rage"?

[DistressedAmerican]

This was one of the saddest and most mind blowing nature docs I have ever seen. And I have seen a ton. Basically, elephant attacks are growing at alarming rates as a function of human encroachment on their territory and wide-scale exploitation of the elephant as labor and entertainer. They kill more people than lions, sharks or any other predator you can think of.

It is extremely graphic and has some very disturbing footage of several attacks, a great deal of disturbing footage showing both the direct encounters between humans and elephants but, also the literal slave labor (bleeding in chains while being whipped to work) conditions than many of these animals endure daily as they substitute for large machinery in many parts of the world.

What have we done to these poor animals?

If you haven't, take a look at their website. It is very much worth watching if you want a feel for some of our impacts on the world and how they are coming back to haunt us.

This was a lucky one...


http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/channel/blog/2005/05/elephant_rage.html

Explorer: Elephant Rage

Airs June 5 8P et/pt

Willie Theisen
Pittsburgh Zoo Elephant Manager

The villagers of the Jalapaiguri district dread the night. That’s when the lumbering giants emerge from the forest to gorge on their crops of rice and corn.

In West Bengal, villagers are waging war with marauding elephants that destroy their homes without warning causing the roof or walls to crash in on sleeping families. Villagers awake to the terrifying spectacle of rampaging elephants wrecking their home. They flee in panic grabbing family members who stubble into the chaotic darkness. But in many cases, as the dust settles, families discover that not everyone made it out alive. Tragically, events like these are becoming commonplace in areas of the world where elephants and people live in close proximity. Wild elephants are by nature very peaceful animals and under normal circumstances prefer an existence away from people. They are genuinely good-natured and spend most of their day eating and caring for their young. But in some regions human development and population growth have encroached on elephant territory—depriving them of food sources and creating a situation ripe for conflict.

[MuseRider]

1. I can not watch those things anymore but

I have worked with elephants. They are amazing animals who cry when sad, they grieve. They can be happy and playful and they will tease you. It is not just random as the exploiters would tell you. You yell at an elephant and they cry real tears in direct response to your disapproval and they also have their particular brand of smiling. We are devastating them and I am not surprised that they are fighting back. They never forget really means something, they don't ever forget.

To add...I was a zookeeper for a number of years, that is how I came to know elephants.

[DistressedAmerican]

5. That was the basic crux of their argument.

That these animals are so mentally aware and sensitive to their surroundings and bonds with groups, handlers,etc. that they are psychologically breaking under modern pressure. Having psychotic breakdowns.Not just the usual competition for resources, the very real and very sad psychological effects on these great "beasts".

What a tragedy.

[MuseRider]

7. It makes me so sad

to see this supposedly "great, superior" animal called human lay waste to all the others without respect or even curiosity. Once gone they will be gone forever and we will be stuck here with just our miserable selves. Diversity is needed and we are wiping it out as quickly as we can. Makes me miserable.

[blindpig]

17. You too?

Former zookeeper myself, 2 years with the elephants. Those critters are sentient imho. Unsuitable for captivity in all but the largest game parks. And then with only the best facilities and keepers.

I would add that they can have a wicked sense of humor, knowing how to push your buttons and taking obvious pleasure in doing so. And they can be hardheaded as hell.

What's happening to the wild populations is tragic and their demise is inevitable without something just short of divine intervention. The people of our time will be despised for posterity, if there is such a thing.

[MuseRider]

19. Yes they are amazing

and oh so funny. I did not get to work with them very much but then it is a fairly small zoo here and we all helped and worked with each other. I adored them. They could be so tender and sweet but yes, they are hardheaded. Take care of them well and they will do about anything you ask though. To me there was nothing so special as that time when they would open their mouths for a good tongue rub.

I can't even bear to think of what is happening, hell I sob when I hit a squirrel in the road.

I despise us already and I don't think I am alone.

Hardest job in terms of muscle work I have ever done. Often a bit scary but also the most rewarding. I followed it with nursing and ended up missing the kindness of the animals. Humans can be such creeps.

[xchrom]

2. what are they supposed to do?

they have to BE somewhere -- and there's no place for them to be that makes us happy -- from their point of view.

can you say civil rights fight?
they are after all self aware beings.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I gotta take the side of the elephants on this one!

[Kali]

9. Please don't take this wrong

but of course you take the side of the Elephants. How could you not? The situation does not affect you in any way. It is so easy to watch nature documentaries and send in $20 to the WWF or some other save-the-animals (especially cool or cute mammals) charity. What if your food supply was being torn up every night? What if your child had been harmed or killed? What if the economic conditions you lived under prevented you from just picking up and moving somewhere else?

We sit in our luxurious resource-rich country, food basically just handed to us, no clue how or where it comes from, still taking from rest of the planet, and have the balls to dictate what some poor farmer in SE Asia or Africa or can or cannot do, no wonder we have lost so much respect around the world. Nevermind starting actual wars against countries we don't care for.

[1monster]

11. It isn't just happening in India. All over the world, developers move in

and decimate larger and larger areas with no thought or caring for the other species habitats destroyed.

Several years back, our local hospital decided to expand. They clear cut at least 100 acres of land. There was a natural estuary in the area that acted as a multi-breed aviary for all kinds of birds.

There were Wood Storks, Ibis, Great, White, and Blue Herons. There were Snowy and Cow Egrets. There were many other types of birds.

For a week or so after the first round of cutting was done, thousands of these birds clung to the trees left around what became the hospital's retaining pond before the second round of cutting closer to the water began. Within two weeks, the entire habitat was destroyed and all the birds were gone.

It was disgusting and criminal. There was no thought given to the effect of destoying this breeding ground or to where the birds would or could go.

A local developer recently deliberately, despite state and local laws, cut down a Bald Eagle's known nesting tree even though the Eagle pair had begun repairing the nest. He didn't even get a slap on the wrist.

I am sorry for the people whose lives are being destroyed, but in a way, it sounds like the elephants are doing to them what we as a species are doing to all wild life.

They are reaping what they have sown.

God help us all, when we begin to reap what we have sown.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. I take the side of the animals in most everything, even in the US

It's time we stop fucking over their natural habitat for our own selfish greed and needs.

In my opinion, bears, wolves, coyotes, elephants, lions, whatever, all have the right to maul and kill people - it's all part of nature. I fully support re-seeding the forests with bear and wolves, even if it means a few people, or even a few head of cattle, get killed every year.

While I do believe in the necessity of hunting and occasional thinning out of herds, we should never eliminate any species from an area, especially never just for our convenience.

I am happy to live with the danger of a wolf or bear attack in our forests - that's the natural order of things.

And if people bellyache that they need more land because they have too many people, then people need to stop breeding so much. We're already overcrowded - maybe wild animals will help thin OUR herds.

We need to live in balance, not domination.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

22. Agreed.

Humans need to stop fucking the animals and start doing something more productive.

[Kali]

36. "I am happy to live with the danger of a wolf or bear attack in our

forests - that's the natural order of things."


In the forest. But not your yard eh? See my reply below.

[blindpig]

23. So I guess we should write them off.

That's progress, I guess. Humans are the only species that counts.:sarcasm:

So we should just let things go, exterminate the rest of the mega fauna and anything else that inconveniences us.

If that's the case we deserve the grave we're digging for ourselves.

We might try to do something, perhaps start returning some of the wealth that we have pilfered from the 3rd world that they might make a living without destroying all of their natural habitat as we have. But that would be inconvenient and horrors, not profitable.

[Kali]

35. So, I'm pretty positive the dwelling you live in displaced

some kind of animal. Gonna give up YOUR pad? Gonna move in with the inlaws or even the neighbors so the critters can have their habitat back?

It's so easy to say this to other people. I am NOT advocating extermination of "inconveient" animals, but I am wary of telling other people how to live, especially when I have not heard their side of the story or have any reasonable solutions to offer them.

[acmejack]

4. And Indian Elephants are the gentle ones.

I do like the attitude that the elephants belong there. Elephants are one of the few species able to fight back. The same scenario is being played out all over the globe, albeit those victims are defenseless and silently exterminated.

[pretzel4gore]

6. and we can't even stop the bush fools

somewhere, in the midst of all the warped logic men use to get around, one would think that the sheer heroism of defending these wonderful creatures, and the land they live in, and the clean water etc they require, might have happened, but it turns out the most powerful, best educated and materially blessed people on earth in all of history somehow let a semi competent jackass like ronald regan take control of the most powerful elective office on earth....god damn the whole lot of us, especially the fukking old white men who proved that human beings are sissies first and foremost, and jesus christ died for absolutely nothing....

[banana republican]

8. Is this thread about Republicans????? n/t

[DistressedAmerican]

10. LOL! Literally, I'm Laughing Out Loud!

:toast: :spray:

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

12. Yep I saw

I found myself cheering for the elephants. Did anyone ever read about how elephants are now genetically altering to not have ivory tusks? I found it fascinating. Three cheers for Darwin!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. Really!

Why? because there are no more big trees to root up, or because they are being killed for the ivory?? do you have links? sounds facinating.

:)

on edit: Google is my friend! found this

World: Africa

Elephants 'ditch tusks' to survive

Elephants are beating the ivory poachers, but at a high price

An increasing number of elephants have no tusks, according to a survey.
Research at the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, showed that 15% of female elephants and 9% of males in the park were born without tusks.

In 1930 the figure for both male and female elephants was only 1%.

more - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/180301.stm

[DistressedAmerican]

15. Natural Variant Selected For Breeding Because They Are Not Hunted

Undesirable so they live and breed.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

16. I found this...

Crippled creatures

Tuskless elephants are paying a heavy price for survival.

Tusks are used to dig for food and water, to dig up trees and branches and move them around, for self defence and for sexual display.

Conservationists say an elephant without tusks is a crippled elephant.

They say that while being tuskless is better than being dead, they hope that less drastic ways can be found to protect elephants against poachers.

:(

[DistressedAmerican]

28. I Think That Is Referring To Tusk Removal.

I understand that some reserves, etc, have gone to that level to deal with the poaching. Not sure if that is the reference.

What this show said was that tuskless males are getting more common. They noted it was a cause of many attacks as they are also more agressive to compete with tusked males. They are apparently cited in many attacks.

[bbgrunt]

18. II blame the catholic church and every other religion

that encourages human reproduction. As a species, we need serious culling, sorry to say. As a species we are a lot like the republican party right now. Our success in breeding and beating down all other species will be our downfall.

[LandOLincoln]

21. Sit tight, I think "culling" is coming right up.

I remember reading a quote from a woman scientist 10-15 years ago, although I think her statement was older than that.

What she said was, essentially, that we had very little time to clean up our ecological act, and to stop breeding ourselves off the planet. She said if we didn't do it, Nature would do it for us--and she would not be kind.

So, in no particular order:

Bird flu
Peak oil and the resulting oil wars
Global warming
Water wars
AIDS
Ebola

etc.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

20. For a sec, I thought you meant Republicans.

Whoops. You're talking about REAL elephants.

:P :P :evilgrin:

[NashVegas]

24. Can We Import Some of Those Into McMansion Developments?

Could be handy.

[kliljedahl]

25. I missed that

but I will definitely keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the heads up.

[DistressedAmerican]

26. It is well worth looking for. I usually would not post on a show.

But, that was a real winner.

Other recent notables:
PBS Frontline "The Torture Question
And both Nova and frontline's coverage fo the Katrina situation

All worth the time!

[kliljedahl]

31. I saw the PBS shows N/T

[ComerPerro]

27. An elephant would be dangerous, yes

Just the size alone should tell people that.

But I think some people see them as harmless.

[DistressedAmerican]

29. The Footage Of Ramapges From The Show Are Horrific.

Human ragdolls being tossed and crushed. One think that is did not know it that they will crush you with their chin. Knock you down, crouch down over you and just crush your chest with their head. They had a number of examples of this behavior on tape. Really gnarly stuff.

[ComerPerro]

30. They will also pick you up with their nose

and can be used as a shower or a sink.

I learned that on The Flintstones.

[Zynx]

32. "No such thing as being mildly trampled by an elephant."

Old African professional hunter saying.

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. Remember when the elephant escaped the circus in Honolulu?

And trampled some people?

I was on the side of the elephant in that one, too.

[LeftyMom]

34. I saw it.

I can't even begin to say how deeply it disturbed me.

[DistressedAmerican]

37. Then I Know You Really Did. It Was Like That.

I could hardly watch at all.