Tamed Tuskers (Large Edit)

A rapid growth in India’s development and the human population has slashed the forest vegetation at a devastating rate of 150,000 hectares over the past 10 years, resulting in significant destruction of wildlife habitat. This ecological imbalance and the fight for living space has led to increased conflict between humans and wildlife across the country. As migratory, nomadic animals that can walk up to 20km a day in search of food and water, elephants in this part of the world has had their usual migration paths disrupted by farming plantations, settlements and the construction of roads and highways. As they lose their forests, the elephants increasingly come into human-inhabited lands, inadvertently destroying agricultural land and crops. Some elephants even become habituated to crop-raiding and teach their young to do the same. The affected communities have resorted to setting up electric fences and sometimes poisoning to protect themselves and their livelihoods.   For the Kurumba people, a tribe from the Western Ghats, their relationship with elephants stretch back centuries. Known as world-class elephant tamers, the Kurumba has been engaged in the tradition of taming wild elephants for over 400 years, passing on their knowledge and expertise from generation to generation. Working with wild elephants, which has killed several people and were captured from areas of conflict, the Kurumba undergoes a long process to tame and train them, eventually earning the trust of the elephant and forming a relationship of respect between man and beast. Throughout the process, no sharp tools or weapons are used – the Kurumba only uses a thin stick to touch and communicate with the animal. The tamed elephants, also known as Kumkis, are in turn used to tame and train newly-captured elephants from the wild. Kumkis are also very effective in leading wild elephants which have strayed into areas with human settlements back into the wild. They are a part of the Kurumba family, where men and beasts work together for over 12 hours a day. Even though they have the opportunity to get jobs and good salaries in Hindu temples in urban areas caring for elephants, they never leave their original homelands. They do however work with the forest department which sometimes uses a few elephants for tourism safaris, removal of weeds and fallen trees, and patrolling during the monsoon season when it is difficult for vehicles to enter muddy areas of the forest. Through their work, the Kurumbas have ensured a reduction in human-elephant conflict situations and poaching.