CONSERVATION CONVERSATION - an environmental story for 7 - 10 year olds

Aranya and Mihir often went with their parents on trips to Sanctuaries. They loved India's wild life - big and small mammals, reptiles, birds, even the creepy crawlies!

They enjoyed this sort of holiday much more than watching TV or going to five-star hotels!

Last May they were at Mudumallai Sanctuary.

"Oof! This awful holiday traffic!" exclaimed Aranya, as vehicles of all shapes and sizes whizzed by in both directions. Suddenly, their guide sounded an alarm.

"Elephants...! " he whispered, pointing to his left.

They spotted a baby elephant, surrounded by several more elephants. The herd - well known to the forest guards - walked slowly and majestically across the road, just a hundred metres in front of their jeep. A heart stopping, awesome sight!

Next day they were shocked to read in the local newspaper, that a large tusker had been killed by poachers in the sanctuary the previous night.

"WHY?" asked the children in anguish.

"It's tusks were huge. That would fetch the poachers at least two lakh rupees," the forest guard told them.

"Can't we do something to stop them?" Aranya asked her father.

"There are ways to stop the poaching," Papa told her. "But first we have to make people aware that ivory and elephant products should NEVER be bought. If we all stopped buying them, the elephant would not be killed anymore..."

That day they discussed this with Mr.Krishnan, a famous businessman in Coonoor. He offered to help. They spent five days meeting local businessmen, collecting donations.

On day five, they printed 50,000 copies of these words on sheets of paper.....

' PLEASE HELP TO SAVE THE ELEPHANTS!
a) NEVER buy ivory products
b) Shoot elephants with a camera, not with a gun.
c) Tell everyone around you never to buy ivory and why!

WOULD YOU RATHER SEE ELEPHANTS IN A MUSEUM,

OR ALIVE IN OUR
SANCTUARIES ??? '

Then they went to the local schools and colleges, shops, forest department offices, guest houses, cafe's and restaurants, even local homes.

They left small bundles of copies at all these places. On Saturday, a local tribal chief came to visit Aranya and Mihir.

"We also need a healthy jungle," he told them. "We want to help. Tell us how.......!"

Mr.Krishnan and the forest officers held a meeting with the tribals and offered ten of the young men in the tribe a monthly salary.

"Help us to keep guard on the local elephant herds," he said."Tell us if you spot anyone trying to sneak into the forest, especially any poachers."

"Yes, yes" they nodded eagerly. "We'll also warn the shopkeepers not to stock ivory stuff! We wont supply them honey, if they don't listen," they said as they left.

The Forest Department called it "Operation Hathi Bachao".

Now, tourists who visit Mudumallai are surprised to see more elephants on the road as they drive by, and often there is a large tusker in the herd. Wonderful, proud, majestic creatures!

Aranya and Mihir like to think they had something to do with that!

* Illustration by Aranya Pathak Broome , 8 yrs.