A simple string that keeps elephants away

From A Staff Reporter

NAGAON, March 12 – It is another David and Goliath battle where the former prevails again. A string, and just that, has been able to play a role in halting the onslaught of the biggest of land animals. In parts of Nagaon district, strategically deployed strings in the path of wild elephants have resulted in reducing human elephant conflict to an unexpected degree, to the extent that some people have called it sheer magic.

However, there actually is no magic involved. The promoter of the idea, Shimanta Goswami of Nagaon told The Assam Tribune that he came up with it after examining quite a few other means to prevent elephant depredation. “It was the most cost-effective and the least time consuming of methods I could think of…in an area where funds are especially scarce to come by,” he mentioned.

The string, commonly known as parachute yarn, is strung at a height of around eight feet in the anticipated route of wild elephants. Once the elephant – an adult is more than eight feet in height – brushes against the string, the hair on its head gets entwined in it. With a feeling that the elephant particularly detests, the animal halts, and then retreats with the herd on its heels.

In case it does not turn back, the tension in the string activates an alarm in the neighbouring village, which gives time for the people to prepare and chase the elephants away.

The result so far has been encouraging as revealed by some villagers near the Jiajuri Tea Estate. In two years when the device was deployed, the local residents could avoid confrontation with the wild herds coming from the nearby hills.

Earlier, confrontation between men and elephants had taken a serious toll on both. While lives were threatened and crops extensively damaged, the elephants were mercilessly attacked with spears or burning oil poured onto them.

Laakheswar Gohain a resident of Chapanola said, “Since the time the device was used people have been able to gain a respite. We no longer have to keep awake at night in machans looking out for any sign of wild elephants. The warning through the device has always arrived on time. With the elephants at bay, there has been no crop damage,” he said.

Buoyed by the success of his method, Goswami, who heads an NGO called Green Guard Nature Organisation expressed his desire to use his method more extensively. “The simplicity of the device is its most attractive feature. All it requires is the string, a small bell and two cells to power it.” He hoped that the Assam Forest Department and NGO interested in reducing human-elephant conflict would take interest in his method in the near future.