Human-Elephant Relationship. Literature & Language Essay

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Human-Elephant Relationship
Naomi Klein portrays how the concept of free trade contributed to overheating the planet. Currently, almost everyone has witnessed the effects of increased environmental pollution through climate change. Although many governments emphasize the shift in consumer behaviors, Klein admits that changing the purchasing patterns cannot by itself solve the problem of climate change. In particular, the “two solitudes” that Klein is discussing are climate and trade. On the contrary, Charles Siebert’s “An Elephant Crackup” shows how human-elephant relationship has been changing gradually. Traditionally, elephants lived in the same neighborhood with humans, and there was no violence experienced. The author makes it clear that elephants have become more aggressive to people. In various parts of India and Africa, elephants have become aggressive and are attacking individuals and killing them. They are also destroying people’s villages and crops. Siebert shows the status of human-elephant relations by giving a model of “two solitudes” that might have an ultimately positive impact on each other.
Siebert starts by giving examples of how elephants have been attacking people frequently, which has attracted the attention of researchers from different fields. One solitude of the changing human-elephant relationship is aggression between people and elephants. For example, Siebert says that two days before he arrived in Uganda, an elephant killed a female in Kazinga. Sixty days ago from that time, a young elephant injured a male severely in Katwe village. In October 2005, a young tourist from India was killed by an elephant in the National Park of Murchison Falls. In other terms, elephants’ attacks have rapidly increased based on the report by the Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC), which was formed in the 1990s. Between the years of 2000 and 2004, elephants killed about 300 people in Jharkhand, India. In around a decade ago, these animals have caused the deaths of 605 individuals in Assam (Siebert). In countries such as Tanzania, Zambia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, elephants attack individuals almost daily. In particular, Siebert’s solitude of aggressive human-elephant relations can be compared with Klein’s climate change. Klein makes it clear that many governments are aware of the dangers of environmental pollution and the significance of green energy programs. However, rather than finding the appropriate solution for the problem, they are politicizing the issue and taking their arguments to the climate summits held by the United Nations. These governments are finding it hard to halt manufacturing operations, which significantly contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases, to avoid adverse economic consequences. Moreover, some of the international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) are used by countries to bring down their colleagues who try to implement green energy programs (Klein 65). The problems of climate change and human-elephant aggression did not occur instantly. They are caused by a series of events that take place over time. Creatures that used to be friendly and lived in the same vicinity many years ago do not want to see each other today. They are full of rage and would stop at nothing to hurt one another. People have as well began to turn against elephants since their behaviors are unpredictable. For example, since 2001, elephants in some parts of northeastern India caused deaths of about 239 individuals. On the contrary, angry villagers killed 265 elephants during the same period (Siebert). Therefore, the deteriorating aggression between humans and elephants is causing more harm than ever before.
The other solitude from Siebert’s article is the invasion of natural habitat by people. In essence, no one can deny that human activities are the leading cause of climate change. Due to the rapid increase of the world population, people have been cutting down many trees to get materials for building their shelter and land for cultivation. For this reason, places that used to be homes for many wild animals are no longer there. The crops that elephants and other creatures used to feed on are gradually being wiped off from the face of the earth. As time goes, nothing will be left for elephants to eat. The trees that formed shade for these animals are disappearing at an alarming rate, resulting in desertification. In the same way that Klein portrays how the increased rate of consumption has caused climate change, human encroachment to forests has destroyed the relationship between them and elephants (Siebert). As such, elephants do not perceive people as their friends anymore. Instead, they view them as enemies who do things to hurt them. The only way that these animals can express their feeling is through aggression to hu...