Take a Selfie With an Elephant, Lose Your Life

An elephant herd crossing a road before a crowd of people.

In India, the elephant is highly regarded by the public as a living embodiment of Ganesha, the god of prosperity, attainment, and wisdom. Therefore, any form of harm attributed to the elephant is strictly frowned upon. However, despite having a religious and cultural standing, the relationship between India's elephants and people has always been uneasy. This can be seen through incidences of elephants venturing into human settlements, resulting in human-elephant conflicts where the results are tragic for both people and elephants. Even during religious festivals, elephants have been known to turn violent at any given moment and attack anyone or anything in their way.  But lately, in the state of Orissa, there have been growing incidences of local people taking selfies with wild elephants leading to attacks with few killed as a consequence. One of these incidents occurred in December when Jaykrushna Nayak was returning home from a village market and sighted a large crowd in his village gathering around an elephant, taking photos and provoking it. He joined the crowd and tried to take a selfie with the elephant, when the infuriated animal wrapped its trunk around him and trampled him to death in front of everyone. Mr. Nayak was one of several people to have died for committing such a foolish and life-threatening act. In September, an elephant killed a security guard named Ashok Bharati who tried to take a selfie with it after getting too close to the animal. The incident, which was captured on video by some bystanders, showed Mr. Bharati inching closer and closer to the elephant, when the animal suddenly charged at him. Mr. Bharati tried to escape, but was beaten and crushed, eventually dying on the way to the hospital. The video of his death went viral.

A group of young men attempting to what appears to be enticing the elephants for selfie.

Other selfie-takers managed to escape with their lives, but suffered severe injuries. One such example was seen in the case of Abhishek Nayak, an engineering student who was rushed to the hospital after being wounded by an elephant while trying to take a selfie with it. Six months later, he is still being treated for the serious injuries he suffered to his neck and stomach. According to Sandeep Tripathy, the chief wildlife warden of the state, the government of Orissa is taking this issue seriously by planning to set up "mock drills and special campaigns in sensitive districts to raise awareness" about the risk of getting too close to elephants. The government data has shown that 60 people have been killed by elephants in Orissa, but it is not clear how many have died due to a selfie. However, officials are concerned that the total number could increase because of the trend for selfies with the elephants. Wildlife expert Biswajit Mohanty indicated that the selfie craze has been intensified by the fact that a lack of food has compelled elephants out of the forests and into the towns and villages in search of food. This, in turn, leads to people getting excited on seeing the elephants in which they start taking photos of themselves with the animals, and ultimately end up being attacked. B.N Mishra, a forest range officer, pointed out that the flash from people's cameras provokes the elephants to attack. He further added that despite the efforts made to fight such incidences by organizing meetings with local residents, the people are simply being ignorant and not taking it seriously. Another forest officer named Ratnakar Das stated that he would frequently see people in the area attracting elephants with sugarcane, in order to take a selfie.

These brainless fellows are risking their lives trying to entice these animals for such a life-threatening stunt. 

I cannot think of anything more insane and life-threatening than a bunch of mindless people risking their lives trying to take selfies with elephants. These brainless individuals do not understand the meaning of respecting one's space when it comes to something as big and unpredictable as elephants. But what really aggravates me is that these people are not taking the advice and warning from wildlife personnel about the dangers of taking selfies with elephants seriously. This is another reason people in Orissa are constantly getting attacked, injured, and killed by elephants. How can you coexist peacefully with a wild animal like an elephant without following rules and guidelines provided by wildlife experts and various organizations who are doing what they can to help you stay safe from such animals? It is downright outrageous and senseless that such people choose not to listen to what experts say about what they are doing and ultimately never live to regret their mistakes. I urge the people of Orissa and other states in India where there are elephants to please not continue this dangerous game of taking selfies with the animals. If you care so much about your life and the well-being of elephants, then don't do it. Instead, I suggest the people of Orissa and other elephant-range states to collaborate with wildlife experts and conservation organizations in benefiting the elephants by protecting their habitats from poaching and deforestation, and further expanding their habitats to give the animals more space to roam. But most of all, they should seriously participate in workshops aimed at reducing human-elephant conflict in the country and follow the rules and guidelines from experts on how to peacefully coexist with the elephants.

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