World | India
Elephant deaths baffle forest officials
The unnatural death of 11 wild elephants within a span of three months in West Bengal's northern region has left the state forest department stumped.
- IANS
- Published: 23:03 August 6, 2007
Kolkata: The unnatural death of 11 wild elephants within a span of three months in West Bengal's northern region has left the state forest department stumped.
The wildlife tragedy is being blamed on an increasing man-elephant conflict arising out of urban encroachment in forest lands.
"We are highly concerned about the frequent deaths of elephants in north Bengal forests and we have already taken necessary steps to find some solutions," West Bengal Chief Wildlife Warden V.K. Yadav said.
But wildlife experts blamed urban encroachments for the tragedy.
"The north Bengal forest range is considered to be the highest conflict zone in India. We have seen that on an average 10 elephants die every year due to man-elephant conflict," said Animesh Basu, member of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (HNAF), a Siliguri-based wildlife society.
"The situation has really become alarming and worrisome because of increasing urbanisation and lack of knowledge among the common people," he said.
"Almost 350 elephants, according to the 2005 census, live in a 200-km forest stretch between the West Bengal-Assam border at Sankosh and the India-Nepal Mechi border. This entire forest corridor is fragmented by several railway lines that pose a major hindrance to the elephants to go from one forest to another and aggravates the man-animal conflict," said Basu.
Out of the 11 elephants that have died in three months, at least five deaths were blamed on lightning. On August 1, one elephant died of electrocution at Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district. Five more elephants, including a calf, met with unnatural deaths in the same region.
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