Dubare tragedy must become a turning point, not just another headline

The tragic death of a tourist woman and the subsequent death of an elephant at Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu should not be treated as an isolated accident. It is a warning. A warning about what happens when tourism is allowed to overtake science, safety, and animal welfare.

For years, elephant camps in Karnataka have increasingly become tourist attractions rather than rehabilitation and care centres. At Dubare and Sakrebailu, close physical interaction with elephants has become normalised. Hundreds of tourists crowd around elephants during bathing sessions, take photographs from dangerously close distances, touch the animals, and treat the camps like amusement parks. This is neither safe nor humane.

Elephants are highly intelligent and emotionally sensitive animals. Constant noise, overcrowding, and forced interaction with large groups of people create stress and unpredictability. When basic protocols are ignored, both humans and elephants pay the price.

What makes this situation even more concerning is that better models already exist within Karnataka itself. At Mathigodu Elephant Camp near Thithimathi and at Harangi Elephant Camp, stricter visitor protocols are followed. Direct touching of elephants is restricted. Tourists maintain distance. Visitor movement is more controlled. Such measures reduce stress on elephants while ensuring public safety.

The Forest Department must now rethink the very structure of tourism at elephant camps. Karnataka urgently needs uniform scientific protocols across all camps. Visitor numbers should be capped. Physical interaction with elephants should be prohibited. Barricades, designated viewing zones, trained guides, emergency response systems, and behavioural monitoring of elephants must become mandatory.

Most importantly, elephants cannot continue to be treated as entertainment objects for social media content and tourist selfies.

The Dubare tragedy should force authorities to ask a difficult but necessary question: Are elephant camps meant for conservation and care, or have they become overcrowded tourist spectacles?

If meaningful reforms are not introduced now, this will not be the last tragedy Karnataka witnesses.

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