The Elephant behind the Fence
Rushi and her relatives were on their way to the Udawalawa National Park. The van they were travelling in suddenly slowed down and stopped by the side of the road.
Rushi wondered if everything was alright. “Why did the van stop suddenly?” she thought peeping out the window.
Everyone started pointing at something excitedly. Rushi gasped. Standing by the side of the road was a huge elephant. It was behind some kind
of a fence. Already a few vehicles were parked by the road and people had got down to see it.
Rushi too got out of the van. Her father took her a bit closer but he made sure to keep a safe distance from the jumbo. “Won’t he come towards us?” Rushi asked her father. “See that fence?” he asked her, “well, that’s an electric fence and it stops the elephants from entering the villages.”
“Is this fence dangerous for them?” asked Rushi, sounding worried. “It just gives them a mild shock to scare them away,” explained her Uncle Aruna who overheard her question. He worked for the Wildlife Department and knew quite
a lot about animals. Rushi felt relieved; she didn’t like the idea of the elephants getting injured.
Just then a small boy around her age went near the fence and threw a piece of watermelon towards the elephant. The crowd with him laughed and clapped. “Please don’t send that child so close to the fence, he could get seriously hurt!” shouted Uncle Aruna.
The crowd with the small boy ignored his advice and continued to take photos with their phones. Then they opened parcels and started to throw sandwiches and other food items towards the elephant. The elephant picked them up and started eating them.
“Please don’t feed him,” said Uncle Aruna sounding angry, “human food is not good for wild animals!”
“Nonsense!” said a lady who was with the small boy’s group, “It’s a good deed
to feed hungry animals!”
“But these are not domestic animals,” argued Uncle Aruna, “their diet is very different!” The crowd looked unhappy that they were asked not to feed the elephant. So they turned to leave. The small boy threw a polythene bag with some food at the elephant just before they left.
The elephant tore the bag and consumed what was in it, which looked like bread. There was some kind of a sauce smeared on the bag. The elephant slowly tore the bag and bit pieces of the bag as well.
“This is terrible!” said Rushi’s Punchi, “that animal will die after eating polythene!”
“Is this true?” asked Rushi, feeling very sad.
“Polythene is poisonous to most animals!” nodded her father.
“Animals such as deer and wild boar die in large numbers because they can’t digest it and it clogs their bowels. People are so irresponsible and they don’t care about the environment at all!” said Uncle Aruna sounding very angry.
“That’s not all,” said Rushi’s father, “people go on trips and throw empty biscuit packets and plastic bottles, especially in wild areas like this.
Those just lie there for hundreds of years spoiling the soil, polluting the environment and killing animals.
The damage done is not simple at all!”
“That is so sad,” said Rushi, “everything looks so green and beautiful out here. But when people litter it makes the place so ugly!”
Rushi looked at the elephant as it raised its trunk asking for more food.
“He has eaten all the bread thrown at him,” said Rushi.
“Did you know that elephants also get sicknesses like diabetes, by eating human food like bread and biscuits?” asked Uncle Aruna.
“Really?’ asked Rushi in utter surprise. She never knew that.
“Yes, so feeding wild animals with such food is like poisoning them. It’s a great sin as they have no access to any treatment. So they suffer in silence and die!”
“That is so sad,” said Rushi, “but Uncle, what about feeding them with fruits then? That shouldn’t be an issue right?”
“Actually that’s just as bad,” said Uncle Aruna, “let me explain!”
“Did you know that an elephant has to forage in search of food and walk many miles a day in order to get the amount of exercise they require?” Uncle Aruna asked Rushi.
“No, I didn’t know animals need exercise,” replied Rushi in surprise.
“All animals need exercise through movement, just like humans do,” replied Rushi’s father, “that’s how all living beings stay healthy!”
“You see, elephants are intelligent animals. When they are fed by people this way, they become too lazy to search for food on their own. So they stand by the fence and wait every day till some traveller feeds them. And once they get really used to it, they refuse to move until someone feeds them; even when they are really hungry.”
“They find the types of fruits people feed them with, tastier than the leaves and branches which they find in the wild. So, they lose interest in eating what is naturally found in the forest!” said Uncle Aruna. “Also elephants need tons of food
a day. What people throw at them is not enough for them at all!”
“So they don’t get enough food or enough exercise by standing there and they end up getting sick,” said Rushi.
“Correct! Smart girl,” said Uncle patting her head.
Rushi was glad she heard all this.
When she saw the small boy throwing food at the elephant, she too had wanted to feed the elephant. But now she knew it would be a very wrong thing to do.
“I don’t want these majestic creatures to be extinct from my country,” she thought. “So in future I will share what I know with my friends and even with adults. I will stop them from causing
harm to the wild animals!”