In recent times, the population of elephants is reducing due to deaths by electrocution, train accidents, and illness. This week, a mother elephant was found dead near Pannimadai, Thudiyalur and the post-mortem examination of the case revealed pulmonary cardiac failure. The need of the hour is immediate action to prevent such deaths.
The loss of an elephant causes severe consequences for the future, but many are unaware of this. Let’s examine how the loss of an elephant leads to significant future impacts.
These ecosystem engineers, while walking in groups, loosen hard soil and make it suitable for plants to grow, which is why they are also called farmers. Elephants help other animals survive in the forest. For example, when they pull branches to eat, they drop some, which helps smaller animals like deer consume food.
While feeding, many seeds fall to the ground, paving the way for new plants to grow and helping to increase the forest canopy, which leads to carbon sequestration.
Elephant dung alone has a multitude of important purposes. Baboons feed on the seeds that remain intact in the dung, while dung beetles take care of the rest.
Without elephants, the natural structure and functioning of their landscapes would be very different, impacting other wildlife and the people who share the space.
A decrease in the elephant population leads to reduced carbon sequestration, a gradual reduction in the forest canopy, and a diminished food supply for herbivores, which in turn affects carnivores. This chain reaction can lead to drought. Additionally, the decreased canopy and forest cover contribute to an increase in greenhouse gases, accelerating global warming.
Elephants are brave, intelligent, communication experts, social creatures, and protectors of forests but vulnerable to threats, therefore, immediate action has to be taken before they go extinct.
