Burning elephant - 'Hell is Here'
The image of an elephant and her calf fleeing a mob of jeering men that set them
on fire has been awarded a Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Award.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2017/11/879.jpg
Described:- Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts.
The image, titled 'Hell is Here', was captured by photographer Biplab Hazra in eastern India.
Hazra was awarded Wildlife Photographer of the Year by Sanctuary Asia, India's leading wildlife and conservation magazine.
Hazra's caption on the image said the elephant mother's ears were angled forward, stoically ignoring the jeers of the crowd
while its calf screamed in confusion and fear as fire licked at its feet.
Hazra said the humiliation of elephants was a regular occurrence in the Bankura district of West Bengal, just like other
Indian states with large Asian elephant populations. The country is home to 70 per cent of the world's species.
Wandering elephants are a problem for local people, who suffer damage to their land and property.
This only adds to the bloodlust of mobs that attack herds of elephants for fun.
Hazra said there is utter indifference of the central and state government to recognise the crisis that is at hand.
"For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the sub-continent for centuries, hell is now and here."
Here
I'm posting this, not to highlight the Photography Award, but to focus on the issue of when the beautiful beast, the Elephant
meets the beast which is Man.
