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‘Has anyone ever factored in the point of view of the elephant?’
Updated On: 25 February, 2024 07:49 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu
What does it take to make an investigative docuseries on one of India’s largest ivory poaching rings? Years of research, months in the jungles, and a seat in the animal’s head
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In the past three years, 90 cases of seizure of elephant tusks/ivory have been reported in India along with 29 cases of poaching of elephants, according to the data shared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) ; A still from Poacher; A behind the scenes look during filming. Aiding the shoot at every step along the way was a robust safety crew which knew how to navigate the forest
It is ironic that in the same week that Richie Mehta released his latest web mini-series, Poacher on Amazon Prime Video, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra skipped Wayanad, his own constituency, where protests had brought life to a standstill after an elephant strayed from Karnataka across the border and killed resident guide VP Paul.
The radio-collared wild elephant pursued and trampled the 47-year-old inside a fenced property in a residential zone in Pulpally. The local residents have accused the forest and revenue department authorities of negligence. This is the third death in three weeks in Kerala thanks to a wild elephant attack. Rising incidence of man-animal conflict is being attributed to decline in quality of forest habitat with commercial species like eucalyptus overtaking natural vegetation that are animal food sources. Shrinking habitat due to construction and waste disposal near forested areas are adding to the mess.
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