Bhubaneswar: More than 400 elephants died in Odisha’s forests in the last five years, with disease, accidents and electrocution causing nearly a fifth of those deaths, information obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows.
Replying to recent queries by Sandhyarani Mohanty, a Bhubaneswar-based RTI activist, the public information officer (PIO) of the State Wildlife Headquarters said that 416 elephants died between 2017-18 and 2021-22.
According to the last elephant census conducted in 2017, there are 1,976 elephants in Odisha. India is home to 29,964 elephants, nearly 60% of the world’s Asiatic elephant population.
A major point of concern revealed by the RTI responses is that more than half of the elephants which died due to electrocution were caused by “deliberate acts” of electrocution by poachers. Of the 61 elephants which were electrocuted, 35 were killed by poachers.
The response added that of the total deaths, as many as 159 were due to diseases, while 106 and 61 were due to accidents and electrocution respectively.
Of the elephants which died due to diseases, an overwhelming number (126) of deaths were attributed to the category of other diseases, while 24 and nine deaths were attributed to anthrax and herpes.
On the other hand, the PIO said 85 of the total 106 elephants which died in ‘accidents’ were caused by “infighting, falling from hill, etc”. Of the remaining, 17 and four elephants were killed by trains and vehicles on the road respectively.
Only one elephant died due to poisoning.
According to the PIO, the forest/wildlife departments arrested 171 poachers in the same period for their involvement in elephant deaths. The departments nabbed 50 poachers during 2021-22 only.
Elephant habitat has depleted, RTI says
Odisha has a fair number of Asian elephants spread across almost all parts of the state, barring some portions in southern and coastal areas. According to a document obtained through the RTI, the habitat of elephants has depleted and fragmented over a period of time, which has led to increased human-elephant conflicts in many parts of the state.
The RTI response also says that the state has conducted eight elephant censuses in the last 43 years. The first census was conducted in 1979; it was followed by censuses in 1999, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
In 1979, there were 2,044 elephants in Odisha. In the next census in 1999, the number declined to 1,827. The number has gradually improved since then, to 1,841 in 2002, 1,862 in 2007, 1,886 in 2010, 1,930 in 2012, 1,954 in 2015 and 1,976 in 2017.
In the last census of 2017, the elephants – 344 male, 1,092 female, 38 unknown sex and 502 young – were found in at least 38 of the total 50 forest and wildlife divisions of the state. The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) core area has the highest concentration of 330 elephants while the Dhenkanal forest division has the second highest concentration of 169 elephants, according to the census.
They are followed by the Satkosia wildlife division with 147, Athagarh forest division with 115, Balasore wildlife forest division with 97, Bamra wildlife division with 94 and Mahanadi wildlife division with 93 elephants.
The Odisha government has formed three elephant reserves – Mayurbhanj, Mahanadi and Sambalpur – covering 8,508.95 square kilometres for the protection and conservation of the elephants. Besides, it has constituted five elephant corridors for the smooth movement of the herds of elephants.
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‘Taking measures to prevent electrocution, accidents’
The document says that the government has taken several measures to prevent the electrocution of elephants by identifying vulnerable points of electrocution in each forest or wildlife division, mapping transmission lines and joint patrolling by forest and energy department staff.
Over 3,814 km stretches of transmission lines have been identified to be passing through vulnerable stretches of elephant movement areas in the forest. “Insulated cabling of those stretches has been taken up by the energy department. Cabling of about 2,500 km has been completed. Balance work is going on,” it says.
Railway authorities have been requested for the provision of overpasses and underpasses required for the movement of elephants, the document says, to prevent their death due to train accidents.
As for disease control, it says, all water bodies in and around protected and elephant movement areas are being disinfected to reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases in wild animals thereby minimising morbidity and mortality. “This is a continuous process to be done twice every year,” it says.
Priya Ranjan Sahu is a senior journalist based in Bhubaneswar.