Killing Innocent Elephants-The Most Disgusting Form of Greed

It has been thousands of years when man first stepped on this planet. At that time man was also an animal. As time went by, he made a number of discoveries and inventions. First, it was the hunting weapons, then settling down, then the fire, and then the wheel. In those times the hunting weapons were made of stone and were not much fatal. The kill would be just what was required to stay alive. Further developments led man to live in societies (organised and civilised groups) that were led by the most powerful and rich men. To show their status as the richest, men started decorating themselves and their spouse with ornaments made of gold and silver. The buck doesn’t stop here. When man discovered that Ivory obtained from the tusks of elephants could also be used for making ornaments, he didn’t think twice before going for the kill. Another level of greed had been reached. What more today one of the biggest and profitable business is Ivory Smuggling.

Wilbur Smith in one of his works “Shout at the Devil” took this subject to bring awareness in mankind that these elephants are much alive like we are and these killings should stop but to no avail. Recently the incident that happened in Karnataka, India was enough to shake the soul of a person. Somebody had planted crackers inside some coconuts and offered the same as food to a pregnant elephant. After eating the coconut, she felt the heat inside her and immediately ran to a water stream flowing close by. She stood there till the next morning but eventually gave up and died. It was only then that some hue and cry was started by animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi and co. Only when something dire takes place, these NGO’s and PETA like organisations talk about the innocent animals — to get some publicity perhaps. After a few days, the media stops talking. They got another issue in the pipeline (and their TRPs fine), so let’s move on. Animals are born and do die. What’s new? Isn’t it the same for us human beings? Why all work comes to a standstill when a minister dies? That day becomes history and is remembered by everyone. Can you tell me the date when that pregnant elephant was killed in Karnataka?

As human beings, it is an act of shame for us that we kill animals just to satisfy the element of greed, and showoff our status in society. What if the animals started to attack us and do the same in retaliation to us? Would anybody justify that? Perhaps not because we are human beings and have a superior edge over other beings of this planet. According to all the religions of this world, we are answerable to God for all deeds we commit during our lifetime. What will be our answer on this issue? Is killing animals, elephants or others, justified? The answer is no. Let’s pledge that in our life we will never let any animals come to any harm just because they have something which will raise our standard of living.