Two elephants, a female and a calf, were found dead at the Gudugudia range in the buffer zone of the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Saturday.
Their bodies were found in a highly decomposed state at Niyuti in the Gudugudia range. Forest department sources said post mortems would ascertain the cause of the deaths and that poisoning could be a possible reason.
Mayurbhanj district has the dubious distinction of recording the highest number of elephant deaths since 2010. As many as 76 elephants have died in the district in the last six years.
Unchecked unnatural deaths
Despite the State government’s claim that an array of steps are being taken to check their deaths, the number of elephants perishing in different forests of the State is alarmingly high.
Since 2010-11, as many as 470 elephants have died in Odisha. An analysis by the Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO) reveals that poaching with weapons, and poisoning, claimed the lives of 85 elephants while electrocution (both deliberate and accidental) was the reason behind 47 deaths.
The State’s Forest and Environment Department found that 226 elephants died of natural causes such as diseases, old age and infighting.
“If decadal elephant deaths are analysed, there is a clear indication that elephants are perishing increasingly in the State. Between 1990 and 2000, the State witnessed an average of 33 deaths per year. In the next decade, between 2000 and 2010, the average elephant deaths increased to 46. The average [number of elephant] deaths from 2010 to 2016 rose to 73 per year,” wildlife expert and secretary of WSO BiswajitMohanty, said on Saturday.
Each year, on average, 18 adult breeding male elephants are killed, and at this rate, the number of large breeding elephants might come down to less than 50 in the next four years. The low number of large breeding males would have a disastrous impact on the elephant population in Odisha, he said.
Mr. Mohanty expressed concerns over the rising numbers of elephant deaths in the State’s protected forests.
“The core area of the Similipal Tiger Reserve is supposed to be safest place for wildlife. As per the reply to an RTI request, there were 25 incidents of elephant deaths in the core areas of Similipal in the six years since 2010. However, only three of these deaths have been reported to the State’s wildlife wing. This indicates that the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden does not have a robust monitoring and supervision system for elephant deaths,” he said.
