Many of us carry pepper sprays as protection, but a spray to ward off rampaging elephants! Well, this is the novel concept developed by Rana Singh, who launched his brand Cobra Pepper Sprays in September 2002. News items on the rising rate of crime and subsequent research led him to develop the first pepper spray in India, and this got a fillip from the Police Commissioner of Bangalore. Needless to say, it found a ready market, despite Rana’s low profile and lack of blatant publicity. I first heard of it in a small snippet in a national newspaper, and requested a piece. Since then, I have gifted them to friends, and the demand grows, especially for single women living alone in cities like Delhi.
However, it was only during a recent meeting with Rana that I heard about the elephant spray, which promises to be a boon in reducing the human-elephant conflict that claims the lives of both in India. After a personal experience of a family member during the Mumbai terrorist attack on the Taj hotel, he modified the regular pepper spray into a pepper grenade, that would be non-explosive, and act as a “neutralizer”, much like a tear gas shell.
Consequently, the idea of the elephant spray was conceived after a visit to Coorg. A friend told him of an attack by an elephant on a forest guard, and that human-elephant conflict was on the rise. He learnt that villagers often throw firecrackers to scare away elephants, injuring them and inviting aggression. Moreover, sometimes the elephant continues to feed on the crops for a while before being scared off. The electric fence too claims elephant lives regularly.
Being a follower of Discovery and National Geographic channels, Rana knew the basic facts about elephants --its memory is legendary, and sense of smell 137 times stronger than that of humans. It would be logical to develop a spray that would utilise these two facts to discourage them, without causing injury or triggering aggression and loss of human life. The Pepper Grenade (with concentrated extracts of chilly powder in a can) has to be opened and thrown near the elephants; this will emit an irritating smell, prompting the elephant to move away. Its strong memory will prevent it from returning to the spot again. The repellent can spread up to 8 feet. There is no direct contact with or pain to the elephant, and the deterrent keeps the elephant and humans apart.
The Tamil Nadu forest department has used this on a trial basis, with promising results, so we hope it will not be long before this method is adopted by wildlife sanctuaries to safeguard both elephants and human beings. It is only concern and innovation like this that can save our wildlife from extinction. Wishing Rana every success!
In case of queries, he can be contacted at:
Aax Global,Bangalore
Mobile:+ 91 9342537713
Email- cobra_sds@yahoo.co.in
URL- www.cobraspray.com
hiii..yea..i totally agree..especially because i am from Kerala where we are constantly being reminded of elephant-man conflict in one way or the other. As the article began i was wondering how one can be so positive about pepper spray that might surely harm the giant. But as i finished reading there is no option left but to appreciate this effort taken by Rana Singh. And thank you,Nita,for bringing it out through your blog..
ReplyDelete