The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-09
ELEPHANTS ARE
 OVER-PRESERvED Herds Are Rapidly Increasing
 In India THE LAWS ARE RELAXED The Animal Has Been Practically Im- mune From lndiscriminate Slaugh- ter for Nearly 35 Years-En-
 danger Life and Property.
From The Field.

From The Field.
 For about 35 years the Indian ele- phant has enjoyed immunity from the sportsman's rifle and the wiles of the na- tive trapper and it would seem as though the time had come to relax the laws which forbid the destruction of elephants save as a defensive measure. Prohibition of slaughter for the sake of ivory or for sport was more than reasonable The Indian government claims monopoly over wild elephants, and on various dates in the 7o's passed protection acts ap- plicable to the several presidencies and provinces wherein the animals are found, reserving to itself the right to catch ele- phants and to license native hunters to do the same.
 Broadly speaking, these protection laws
 were framed on similar lines. No man,
 without special permission, which was sparingly granted, might shoot or cap ture an elephant under the penalty of 5oo rubles fine or three months imprison- ment for the first offense and 1000 rubles fine or six months for the second, excep- tions being made in case of self-defense and of elephants found on cultivated lands or in the immediate vicinity or a public road Since these laws have been
 in force the only practical checks on
 natural increase have been the "khedda
 operations conducted under government
 officers and noosng and trapping by li-
 censed native hunters. The khedda sys-
 tenn of catching needs no description;
 the noosing method practiced by natives
 consists simply of catching wild animals
 with the assistance of trained females.
 The pitfall trap once prohibited as cruel
 and wasteful, has been readopted in an improved form in the Madras presidency
 during the last few years as an alterna-
 tive to the elaborate khedda system. There Is abundant evidence to prove that the wild herds have increased to an extent which makes relaxation of the pro- lection laws imperative. In 1887 and 1888 the conservator of forests in the Madras presidency reported that wild elephants were largely increasing in South Can ara. the Wynaad and North Coimbatore.
 Tn 1904 the conservator of forests in Lower Bengal reported that the mum bers from a forestry point of view were excessive in the Tista, Kuresong and Angul districts and suggested the estab- lishment of a khedda Again in 1905 the same officer reported that the wild ele phants in these districts were "still doing considerable damage to life and prop erty."
 In the autumn of last year the mag istrate of Cuttack urged the propriety of establishing khedda to relieve his district of its supera bundant wild ele- phants, and about the same time the | Bengal government approved the issue | of livenses for capturing elephants in the Darjeeling district. Lastly, the tea | planters of the Dooars memoralized | the lieutenant governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam a few months ago. praying for some modification of the l laws in the interests of their property. l crown bold during their long immunity the wild elephants have become dan | gerous and mischievous in districts | where cultivated lands are within reach ! of. theid haunts. Not only do they in l wade standing crops of all kinds. do- ! ing enormous damage; they enter tho ! villages and demolish the granaries.