Profile of an extraordinary elephant man...
...I always like to plug good books here and so when this profile of one of the stars of Tarquin Hall's, "To the Elephant Graveyard" was profiled in the Indian press I thought I would introduce you to him!
Not only does Mr Choudhury sound a remarkable man I think the book well worth a read for elephant lovers, it was written by a journalist who travelled to Northern India to document what he assumed would be state sponsored carnage in the killing of a rogue elephant.
It takes you through his introduction to Mr Choudhury and gradual acknowledgment that he was dealing with a hunter who went out of his way to understand his quarry and who considers the killing of the rogue the last possible option.
Read the article, read the book!
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Elephantine Memory (India)
Not only does Mr Choudhury sound a remarkable man I think the book well worth a read for elephant lovers, it was written by a journalist who travelled to Northern India to document what he assumed would be state sponsored carnage in the killing of a rogue elephant.
It takes you through his introduction to Mr Choudhury and gradual acknowledgment that he was dealing with a hunter who went out of his way to understand his quarry and who considers the killing of the rogue the last possible option.
Read the article, read the book!
________________________________
Elephantine Memory (India)
Sushmita Choudhury / New Delhi
March 25, 2007
Pachyderm lover-hunter-conservationist Dinesh Choudhury's life comes a full circle.
His life story is a study in paradoxes. A superstitious rationalist who believes in ESP. An engineer in the making, had his father had his way, who was happier playing car mechanic. A hunter who is a staunch conservationist. Meet Dinesh Choudhury, elephant hunter.
Yes, you read right. Choudhury is exactly that. But before you start calling up animal rights activists, let's make it clear that this man is perfectly legal. He is actually a licensed professional hunter, one of the last few ones in the country. He is the man the government turns to when a rogue elephant has to be stopped.
"Elephants are gloriously unpredictable," says the 61-year-old who turned "pro" in 1994, 11 years after he first independently brought down his first elephant. "I know how an elephant will react only after I have put a bullet in it." Yet, pulling the trigger is never an easy choice for him.
"Before I shoot, I prefer to ensure for myself if the animal is a genuine rogue or not," says Choudhury adding, "I won't shoot an elephant that is sleeping or has not charged at me, I won't shoot one that is just temporarily bad-tempered because of being in musth, a period associated with sexual maturity lasting about three months, or being ill or sporting an injury. And I won't shoot a mother with a young calf."
He has a sixth sense when it comes to elephants. Sceptics may scoff, but the forestry officials and mahouts he has ever worked alongside swear it is true, having witnessed it themselves ad nauseum.
Choudhury's logic is simple: if a man can be given a fair trial, why should it be any different for animals? "The elephant 'communicates' with me. So I have given each elephant I have ever tracked a chance to redeem himself. Of the many elephants I have been asked to pursue and put down, I have only shot about seven," he elaborates.
His fascination for elephants is as old as he is. "I grew up surrounded by them. We owned several and our mahouts would train them before selling them. It was like having my own private circus," says the hunter.
Given his history and his profession, one expects wild tales. The Guwahati-based Choudhury does not disappoint. He shares stories about the first elephant he killed: a tuskless male in musth who had already killed half a dozen people.
"One morning, as I was following him, he turned and charged. I had no time to get out of the way so I instinctively fired at the animal. He was dead in an instant," he says. But there was no pride in his voice, he is no run-of-the-mill trophy hunter.
Stories of a rogue called Golap, who actually took the second chance offered by Choudhury -- he had killed four people in less than three weeks and everybody was baying for his blood but Choudhury's elephantine ESP told him this was no rogue and indeed, after a week, Golap meekly presented himself back at his owner's house.
And stories of a true-blue rogue called Phandika, a victim of human cruelty, who in turn sought out each of her tormentors and gruesomely killed them. This last story is the central plot of a novel by Tarquin Hall, To The Elephant Graveyard.
Neither is his choice of second occupation a walk in the clouds -- he was an arms dealer of repute before he decided to retire recently. "It's a dangerous job. When I leave my house to track a rogue, I always say goodbye to my family like it's the final one." Making his task more difficult by the day is the dwindling forest cover.
"Earlier I used to hunt in the forest where the only onlookers were the monkeys. Now the onlookers are homo sapiens," he laughs off his pressing concern. And it is a problem. Given the rate at which villages are encroaching into the green cover, should the rogue run into the crowd in his attempt to escape, the hunter will find himself in an uncomfortable situation.
In return for his efforts, Choudhury gets a paltry amount as fees. "I'm not here for the money -- anyway, I only receive a token amount from the government. If I am willing to invest energy and time in tracking a rogue, sometimes as many as 40 days at a stretch, it is because I want to save lives, both human and animal. Another hunter might be far more trigger-happy than I am."
Wouldn't a less scrupulous person from his ranks then be tempted to go in for ivory smuggling et al? "But that is impossible," says Choudhury. "The tusks are cut off before the body is buried and kept under lock and key in the state treasury." Also, as a final deterrent to carcass hunters who might fancy the elephant's feet to sell as foot stools for some billionaire's mansion, diesel is poured all over the body before being buried.
You would think that the villagers for whom Choudhury pulls the trigger would always be appreciative. But, there is no accounting for human behaviour, and on one occasion, the hunter came close to becoming the hunted, by his own kind.
"Years ago after I shot down a dangerous rogue terrorising southern Assam, the locals tried to lynch me. They said I had brought misfortune upon their heads. It was only thanks to the local forest officer, who dispersed the crowd by firing in the air, that I was able to escape."
Given his age, there is no denying the fact that Choudhury will soon have to hang up his rifle. Since there is no school where one can go trained to become an elephant hunter, who will then take up the mantle? "Only time will tell," says Choudhury, "But there will be no gap. Life goes on, does it not?"
Brilliant! Can you please give me the email address of Dinesh Choudhury and also that of Tarquin Hall
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Dear Professor
Apologies, I don't have the e-mail address of either, but the details of Mr Hall's book are as below.
To the Elephant Graveyard; Tarquin Hall; Grove Press; ISBN 0802138357
Thanks
John
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