Artist Bio
Senthil Kumaran is an independent visual storyteller from South India. He holds an engineering degree in Computer Science but an immense interest in visual arts from his childhood led him to pursue a full-time career in photography. His earlier works focused on social, environmental issues with a personal approach. Over the past 8 years, his work has turned into Environmental & Wildlife Projects.
Senthil Kumaran is currently working on various reserves in India, to documenting his longtime project of Human & Animal conflict issues. Notable among them his documentation of various marine ecology and the underlying issues in the Gulf of Mannar biosphere, a photo story on the illegal animal trade in Cambodia, and more recently his documentary on captive wild elephants in South India. He has also been involved in developing interpretation centres for wildlife sanctuaries and has made various conservation films.
Senthil Kumaran has won multiple awards from international organizations like POYi (International Picture of the Year), World Report Award, Istanbul Photo Awards, WWF, Pano, IUCN Melvita Nature Image Awards, UNESCO, TAPSA scholarship.
In 2007, he won the “Geographical Photographer of the Year Award” from Royal Geographic Society, London.
He also received the “Hope Françoise Demulder Grant” from Angkor Photography Festival, Cambodia, 2014.
He has been selected for the “World Press Photo” Talent Program 6×6 Asia Region, 2019, Netherlands.
Introduction
A rapid growth in India’s development and the human population has slashed the forest vegetation at a devastating rate of 1.5 million hectares in the last 20 years. Such anthropogenic pressure within and around elephant habitats has also led to the loss of their traditional corridors of movement. Surviving in the fragmented habitat that they have at their disposal in India today necessitates crossing human-dominated landscapes. In India, more than 80% of the elephant corridors have been encroached by farmlands and various human mediated activities. The cultivation of palatable crops in the fringe areas attracts wild elephants. Such physical rapprochement generates everyday conflict, especially devastate crops, destroy fragile homes & accidentally kill villagers.
The elephants have increasingly become victims to poisoning and illegally fenced electrocuted power cables placed in these migration corridors to avoid their invasion. In last 10 years, around 630 elephants lost their lives due to electrocution and in the last 5 years, approximately 2300 people have died because of elephant attacks. Every year rising incidents of conflicts have become a source of worry for Governments. These conflicts also create direct clashes between people and the Forest department.
In order to mitigate the issues, the government capture and translocate the problematic (man slaughtering) wild elephants to the taming camps. The camps save the habitual crop raiding elephants from human dominated landscape, helps to instil a positive attitude towards elephants among the people who live in close quarters with them and to enlighten the community about the need for coexistence with these gentle giants. The elephant camps use men from the Kurumba tribe among others to tame these elephants through their traditional techniques.
For over centuries, the Kurumbas have had a close association with the Asiatic elephants. Primarily inhabiting the Western Ghats of Southern India, their knowledge and expertise in working with elephants have been passed on through generations. The tamed Tuskers or Kumkis are in turn used to tame and train newly captured elephants from the wild. Kumkis are also very effective in leading wild elephants that have strayed into human habitation, back into the wild. The Kumkis are a part of the Kurumba’s family, where man and beast work together. Through their work, now the Kurumbas have ensured a reduction in human-elephant conflict situations and poaching.
Part I
Start on the left side of the corridor leading to the restaurant from the lobby.
You can listen to the audio as you view the images on the left wall.
Part II
Turn back and head back towards the lobby from the restaurant door.
You can listen to the audio as you view the images on the opposite side.
Need for emergent conservation measures
Thank you for experiencing the tour. We hope it was informative and made you think about the difference each of us can make in building a safe future for our wildlife and our world.
