Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-09-09

London Field.-For about 35 years
the Indian elephant has enjoyed i'm
munity from the sportsman's rifle
and the wiies of the native 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. Prohi-
bition of slaughter for the sake of
ivory or for sport was more than rea-
sonable The Indian government
claims a monopoly over wild ele-
plants, and on various dates in the
'70s passed protection acts applicable
to the several presidencies and pro-
Yinces wherein the animals are found,
reserving to itself the right to catch
elephants and to license native hunt
ers 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 capture an elephant under
the penalty of 500 rubles' fine or three
months Imprisonment for the first Of
tense and 1000 rubles' fine or six
months for the second, exceptions be-
ing made in case of self-defense and
of elephants found on cultivated
lands or in the immediate vicinity of
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 noosing and
trapping by licensed native hunters,
The khedda system of catching needs
no description; the noosing method
practiced by natives consists simply
of catching wild males with the as
sistance of trained females. The pit
fau trap, once prohibited as cruel and
wasteful, has been readopted in an
improved form in the Madras presi-
dency during the last few years as
an alternative to the elaborate khed-
da system
There Isl abundant evidence to prove
that the wild herds have increased
tn an extent which makes relaxation
of the protection laws imperative. In
1887 and 1888 the conservator OF for
ests in the Madras presidency re-
ported that wild elephants were
'.7irgelv increasing" in South Canara,
the Wynaad and North Coimoatore'
In 1904 the CONSERVATION of forests in
Lower Bengal reported that the mum
hers from a forestry point of view
we're excessive" in the Tista, Kur-
seong and Angul districts, and sug-
gested the establishment of a Khedda-
Again in 1905 the same officer re-
norted that the wild elephants IN
these districts were "still doing con
Siderable damage. to life and prop
erty."
In the autumn of last year the E--.z-
istrate of Cuttack urged the propr1ety
of establishing a khedda to relieve
his district of its superintendent
wild elephants, and about the same
time the Bengal government approved
the issue of licenses for capturing
elephants in the Darjeeling district.
Lastly, the tea planters of the Dooars
memorialiZed the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
of eastern Bengal and Asam few
months ago, praying for some modl-
fication of the laws in the interests
of their property. Grown bold during
their long immunity, the wild .eie-
phants have become dangerous ana
mischievous in districts where cul-
tivated lands are within reach Of their
haunts. Not only do they invade
standing crops of all kinds, dong
enormous damage: they enter the VII
kages and demolish the granarles'
frequently dragging the roofs of the
native houses in their search LOT
grain. Under such circumstances II
is permissible TO shoot them hu'