Subtle Relationship Between Elephants and Humans

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Subtle Relationship Between Elephants and Humans
Charles Siebert explains how the subtle human-elephant relationship has changed over time and how people are forcing these animals to the edge of this danger. For many years, humans have dominated the usage of the earth without considering the consequences of their activities on the social needs of animals and environmental repercussions. For this reason, animals have limited areas where they can move freely without people’s interference. Some of the animal kingdoms have acquiesced to these changes without resistance, but elephants are not among them. The community of elephants have responded differently to the destruction of their habitat. They have become aggressive and have started turning against individuals by intruding into human settlements, destroying crops, and killing people as a way of revenging. Siebert asserts that “Okello told me that a young Indian tourist was killed in this fashion two years ago in Murchison Falls National Park, just north of where we were” (Siebert 347). At this juncture, it is clear that elephants perceive humans as enemies, and they do not hesitate to show their aggressiveness. For instance, in Jharkhand, which is located along Bangladesh western border, elephants killed about 300 individuals between the years of 2000 and 2004. Moreover, in the last 12 years, around 605 individuals have been killed by these animals in Assam, which is found in northeastern India. Consequently, the relationship between humans and elephants has continued to deteriorate in the recent past.
Researchers have shown that the primary causes of elephants’ aggression toward people are the high testosterone levels in mature males and the competition of resources and land between these animals and humans. One of the s...