IN the heart of the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia lies the Mfuwe Lodge, where an astonishing ritual takes place between late October and mid-December.
The Mfuwe Lodge, a hotel for lodgers keen to experience wildlife up close, experimented with opening their doors to sauntering herds of wild elephants.
Guests relaxing at the lounge can come face to face with wild elephants — up close and personal, without wires, barriers or barricades. This has played out well, showing that two mammals can co-exist.
How is this possible? In 1998, the developers of the Mfuwe Lodge unknowingly built it on a path that wild elephants have historically used to reach wild mangoes. Herds of elephants, sometimes just one of them, would enter the hotel's lobby to get to the wild mangoes that fell from a tree outside the lobby.
In response, the developers constructed a wide berth and installed sturdy tiles to support the weight of the gentle giants. A chance to hang out with the elephants has been a great marketing pitch for the lodge for 26 years. Of course, guests are requested to respect the elephants' privacy and access.
The Mfuwe Lodge may be the only place on Earth where wild elephants can freely mingle with their human "frenemies". Now, compare how the Mfuwe Lodge treat wild elephants and how we do it.
Summoned to Gerik, the Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department recently captured 14 elephants that have been "disturbing" villagers since Sept 1. The villagers say the herd began encroaching on their land earlier this year.
The 14 elephants will be relocated, presumably far away from humans. It's obvious that what has been deemed as "human-wildlife conflict" was sparked by the elephants using a path they have traditionally used to access feeding grounds.
Humans are the cause of the conflict as they block the elephants' right of way. Unlike the Mfuwe Lodge's strategy, authorities here are more prone to rounding up and relocating elephants.
Granted, the Mfuwe Lodge's approach is radical and may be impractical elsewhere.
Relocating the giants may worsen their stress from being deprived of their natural foraging habits.
Do we have an alternate? Perhaps the Wildlife Department can give the Mfuwe Lodge method a try to preserve the remaining 1,700 elephants we have from going down the path of extinction, like the Sumatran rhinoceros.
Our elephants need more wildlife corridors to connect fragmented habitats. They have lost access to their ancestral land, rudely overtaken by industries, agriculture and plantations. A little compassion, like the Mfuwe Lodge method, can be a small consolation.