Ces ravages, comme il faudrait le rappeler, ne datent pas d’aujourd’hui. Ils remontent à plusieurs décennies, mais à chaque fois qu’il y a attaques de ces pachydermes, les riverains de la forêt ne cessent de se plaindre sans chercher à savoir les raisons de ce comportement peu habituel des éléphants. On se rappellera qu’à une certaine époque, devant expliquer ce phénomène, le pasteur Willy Cosma, le directeur général de l’Institut congolais pour la conservation de la nature, avait indiqué que dans leur comportement, les éléphants ne s’attaquent pas aux hommes qu’ils fuyent dès qu’ils s’approchent d’eux. C’est quand ils se sentent menacés qu’ils réagissent violemment.
Si rien n’est fait, les éléphants promettent de ravages plus destructeurs
Les ravages des champs de la chefferie de Nkulu seraient probablement une réaction de colère de ces pachydermes, contre la destruction de leur habitat naturel. En effet, la déforestation à grande échelle entretenue dans cette partie de la république, a eu pour conséquence directe, la destruction de l’aire géographique qui abrite leur habitat naturel. Ne se reconnaissant pas dans une zone complètement déboisée, envahie au quotidien par des bandes d’exploitants forestiers, des riverains se livrant à la coupe du bois de chauffe, et même quelques braconniers, les éléphants se sont alors retournés vers les habitants des environs pour manifester leur colère. La manière la plus visible est cette descente punitive dans les champs et les multiples marches de protestation dans les villages.
On peut en rigoler, mais les spécialistes des questions de la protection des espèces en voie de disparition, le savent. Ces attaques ne sont donc pas le fait du hasard, c’est une expression de colère qui traduit un mécontentement bestial face à la réduction de son espace naturel. Et si l’exploitation sauvage des forêts continue de plus belle, les éléphants finiront par s’attaquer aux hommes, causer des dégâts plus importants, voire des morts, avant d’émigrer vers d’autres forêts plus hospitalières pour leur espèce.
Il ne fait l’ombre d’aucun doute que sous d’autres cieux, le respect de l’habitat naturel des éléphants par les populations riveraines, a toujours permis une cohabitation pacifique entre les hommes, la faune et flore. C’est là que se réalisent la symbiose et l’équilibre animal et végétal.
Dans le territoire du Lac Mai-Ndombe et précisément à Kutu, dans le Bandundu, l’exploitation contrôlée du bois qui a favorisé également un reboisement rapide de la forêt, n’a jamais été source de conflits entre les populations riveraines et les éléphants. Toutefois, on a enregistré quelques attaques d’éléphants quand le braconnage faisait rage avec la chasse aux pointes d’ivoire.
A Malemba Nkulu, les populations riveraines de la forêt ne savent pas où aller se réfugier avant l’arrivée des équipes de l’ICCN et du ministère de l’Environnement, Conservation de la nature et Tourisme. J.R.T.
Once a peaceful and prosperous chiefdom, Nkulu in the territory of Malemba Nkulu, in northern Katanga, are dealing with, for two weeks now, the repeated sporadic ravages of its vast fields of corn, manioc (cassava, yucca), beans and peanuts. This is the harvest for an entire growing season, complains a farmer, which is pressing down the agricultural production.
The authors of these ravages are none other than the forest elephants near the territory of Malemba Nkulu in northern Katanga. Faced with this menacing animal, the chef (head) of the chiefdom of Nkulu who announced (shared) his concern on Radio Okapi, has forwarded detailed reports of this unfortunate situation to the political and administrative authorities of the province and district to ensure that appropriate means are implemented in order to drive back these pachyderms. He also shared (announced) his complaints from his jurisdiction to the governor and to the provincial government soliciting their intervention, in order that the farming fields are provided with sufficient quantities of fertilizers and seeds. If the cries of distress have been heard, it is believed that this week, teams from the Congolese Institute for the conservation of nature (ICCN), and from the minister on the Environment, Conservation of Nature and Tourism, are going to descend to the location (place, spot), not only to realize the situation but to evaluate the havoc caused by the elephants, but also to define the scope (identify) the actual location of their natural habitat, in order to catch a glimpse at some strategies for the driving back of these animals which figure among the endangered species listed in wildlife protection.
These ravages, as it should be recalled, are not new (don’t date from today). They have come up over decades, but each time there are pachyderm attacks; the bordering residents of these forests continue to complain without looking for reasons for the unusual behavior of these elephants. One remembers that at a certain period of time, to explain this phenomena, Pastor Willy Cosma, the general director of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, had indicated that in their behavior, elephants don’t attack men, they run away from them when the approach them. It is when they feel threatened that the react violently.
If nothing is done, the elephants will be promise of more destructive ravages.
The ravaging of the field in the chiefdom of Nkulu would be probably an angry reaction of these pachyderms, against the destruction of their natural habitat. In fact, the maintained large scale deforestation in this part of the republic, has had direct consequences, the destruction of the geographical area which houses their natural habitat. Not recognizing an area that has been completely deforested, invaded on a daily basis by loggers, and local inhabitants cutting wood for heating their homes, and even some poachers, the elephants then turn toward the inhabitants from the area in order to show their anger. The most visible way of showing this punitive descent are the multiple protest marches in the villages.
On can joke (laugh) about it, but the people who specialize questions about the protection of endangered species, know it. The attacks are not, therefore, done by accident; it is an expression of anger, which is translated as a bestial (brutal) dissatisfaction in the face of the destruction of their natural space. And if the savage exploitation of the forests continues unabated, the elephants will finish by attacking men, causing even more damage and even death, before emigrating towards more hospitable forests for their species.
There is not a shadow of a doubt that under different skies, the respect for the natural habitat of elephants by the neighboring (bordering) residents has always permitted a peaceful coexistence between man and the flora and fauna. It is there where symbiosis and balance happen for animal and plant.
In the Kac Nau-Ndombe territory and more exactly in Kutu, in the Bandundu, the controlled exploitation of the forests which as also assists in promoting the fast reforestation of the forest, has never been a source of conflicts between the local (bordering) residents and the elephants. Nevertheless, several attacks have been recorded during the hunt for ivory tusks which is when poaching was at its height of popularity.
In Malemba Nkulu, the population of residents which border the forests won’t know where to seek refuge until the teams from the ICCN (Congolese Institute for the conservation of nature), the minister of the Environment, and the bureau of the Conservation of Nature and Tourism.
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