Concern as poaching of male elephants rises

“Wildlife guide Jayaram Harsha heaves a heavy sigh as he talks about his recent work counting male elephants in southern India. The numbers are down and, he fears, may one day be out.

?It is alarming,? says Harsha, who says poachers who continue to kill elephants for their ivory tusks may have decimated the population, something which will be determined by the largest ever census of India?s Asian elephant population which began recently.

Harsha, one of hundreds of census volunteers, found that of the 42 elephants he sighted in a sanctuary in southern Karnataka state only four were males, including a calf.” – Gulf Times Newspaper