บท 4: Chapter 570: Is It Wrong to Drain the Pond Just to Catch All the Fish?
The main conflict point in human-elephant confrontations lies in the fields of crops.
Villagers toil in their fields, only for their harvest to be devoured by elephants.
As dusk falls, herds emerge from the forest, swaggering into cornfields, their trunks skillfully peeling the corn husks, and the corn is directly scooped into their stomachs.
Elephants' trunks are not only flexible but also highly sensitive, quickly determining if the corn is ripe; unripe corn is disdainfully ignored.
Forestry officers, lamenting the destruction wrought by elephants, hurriedly gather squashed corn from the ground after the elephants leave.
After collecting for a while, he notices an elephant watching him from afar.
That night, the elephant returns to blitz the cornfield, devouring all the corn.
Elephants are intelligent, aware that humans will harvest the corn, intending to eat it all before the humans can.
Since 2005, to allow villagers to prematurely harvest their crops, the Xishuangbanna reserve designated a sloping area by the forest edge to grow food for the elephants.
Additionally, an artificial salt lick was constructed nearby, with salt buried underground for the elephants and other animals to consume the necessary minerals.
However, elephants consume crops quickly, devouring a field in an afternoon and then leaving.
This practice of growing crops for elephants has further changed their diet, making them increasingly dependent on these high-starch, high-calorie foods.
It was a method of last resort.
To address elephants eating crops, various organizations have attempted many solutions.
Villagers who depend on farming for income and suffer heavily from elephant damage are hired as elephant monitors.
Although compensation is available for crops destroyed by wild elephants, it still falls short of normal income.
Elephant monitors track wild elephants 24/7, instantly reporting their whereabouts through WeChat and social media, warning villagers to avoid conflicts.
Also, an audio-visual alarm system is in place; when infrared cameras around the village capture images of wild elephants, the photos are sent to the administrator's email. Upon confirmation, loudspeakers, flashing lights, and scrolling messages are activated to notify.
Even if villagers don't check their phones or miss the messages, they can still be alerted through the various alarms scattered across the fields, preventing casualties.
However, the key lies in restoring elephants' original forest habitats, so they can obtain necessary resources from the forest, addressing the issue at its root.
Organizations are now undertaking habitat restoration in the protected areas, planting bamboo, Zongye loo, and wild bananas - plants favored by elephants.
Yet, artificial planting can't compare to natural regeneration. Planted Zongye loo is quickly decimated by elephants before it can grow. A week's worth of planting is undone in less than an hour by elephants, who uproot everything.
Destruction is easy; restoration is much harder.
Protecting the habitat of Asian elephants and addressing villagers' livelihood concerns are both crucial.
Some public welfare projects assist villagers in industry transformation, like developing beekeeping, improving beehives, and offering beekeeping training.
This ensures villagers have a stable income, while bees aid in pollination, maintaining the forest ecosystem's health.
Restoring the forest is also about mending relationships between humans and elephants, between people.
Once food issues are resolved and relations between elephants and humans harmonize, elephant-watching tourism can be developed.
Other measures include considerations for elephants in road construction. Elephants on roads obstruct traffic, necessitating the construction of migration corridors, among others.
Lin Hao breathed a little easier after reading.
Despite the challenges, there are solutions.
Exchanging environmental sacrifice for economic benefits, discussing protection after development gains momentum.
Aspiring for a beautiful life is right, but environmental sacrifices should have limits. For instance, planting rubber at high altitudes not only damages the environment but also wastes resources.
Ancients knew, "Drain a pond to catch all the fish, and the next year there will be no fish."
With a television, wouldn't one desire a car? With a car, how about a big house? With a big house, indulging in luxury every day is so delightful.
Human desires are endless.
Studies have looked into the climate impact of extensive rubber planting. Forests play a certain role in precipitation, mainly by capturing atmospheric moisture, increasing air humidity, and replenishing soil moisture.
The interception capacity of rubber plantations is far lower than that of seasonal rainforests. With the increase in rubber plantation areas, Xishuangbanna's humidity has significantly decreased over the years, leading to drier air and higher temperatures. Simply put, it's easier for droughts and wildfires to occur.
Unregulated deforestation for economic crops ultimately degrades the environment. Not just elephants and other wildlife suffer; local residents also find it hard to live. How can one farm during a drought?
Eventually, the costs will be repaid.
Da Wu and others also toured the Observatory Cabin and expressed their thoughts after seeing the displays.
Back on the balcony, watching the distant elephants, they were filled with mixed feelings.
With this newfound knowledge, looking at elephants becomes more than just perceiving them as large, cute, and gentle.
They are also dangerous, intelligent, and tragic animals.
Observing elephants from such a Dai-style bamboo house feels like living as a farmer in the reserve.
Thinking about the hard work of farming, creating such a lush green cornfield only for elephants to devour it upon ripening, one can sympathize somewhat with the love-hate relationship with elephants.
The elephants, having bathed, now approached a sandy area.
They each scooped up sand with their trunks, tossing it onto their backs, heads, and sides.
For a moment, dust filled the air in a spectacular scene.
For elephants, playing with water and sand in the summer is pure joy.
With such a large pool, allowing several elephants to bathe together, relationships improved compared to when they first met.
Ping Ping lay happily in the sand, wagging its tail, clearly having a blast.
Bo Bo lifted one front leg, repeatedly scratching the other foot, seemingly using this method to itch.
Mei Ling, particularly excited, fluttered her fan-like ears, tossed a spray of sand, and let out a high-pitched elephant call.
"Woo————!!!"
Like a steam whistle, the sound reached the cabin loud and clear, echoing lingeringly.
Visitors immediately cheered excitedly.
"Ha ha, they seem so happy!"
"Our zoo's environment is really great, so spectacular."
Witnessing the elephants' playful water and sand antics firsthand is an incomparable experience.
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