Bhubaneswar: In yet another shocking incident, on Tuesday, three elephants, a female and two calves, were found dead near the Penthabahal forest area under Rairakhol forest division in Sambalpur district. Their bodies were found on a paddy field at a place close to the Khalasuni elephant project area.

According to the Forest Department , three elephants died after coming in contact with a live electric wire. Villagers, who feared damage to their crops by elephants, had placed live electric wires on the land in order to discourage the elephants from coming into the fields. However, investigations are on to find out the exact reason behind the elephants' deaths. Divisional Forest Officer, Rairakhol, Sankarshan Behera, rushed to the spot after getting the information of the elephants'death.

With this, six elephants have already lost their lives within a span of a week. A few days back, two elephants were found dead near Joda in Keonjhar district. The incident followed the death of an elephant in the premises of the Similipal National Tiger Reserve recently.

It may be noted here that as per the latest census, the elephant population has been declining since the last two decades. While 2,044 elephants were counted in 1979, their number came down to 1,639 in 2005. During the last one year from April 2005 to March 2006, at least 14 elephants were killed in forests, while in March this year, two elephants were shot dead, one each at Chandaka and Satkosia.

The unchecked operation of elephant poachers and ivory traders is apparent from the recent seizures of valuable ivory. Sixty-four kg of ivory was seized at Jashipur in Mayurbhanj district in December 2005, followed by the seizure of another 10 kg in Jharsuguda in January 2006 and 5.2 kg a few days back by the Similipal forest officials.

Sources revealed that professional elephant poaching gangs are active in almost all elephant habitats, including Narsinghpur, Kapilas, Athmalik, Satkosia, Rairakhol, Boudh, Baisapalli, Simlipal, Keonjhar, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Lakhari valley and Kotagarh.