Rise in Jumbo count worries dept

Statesman News Service
January 2, 2008

JALPAIGURI, Jan. 2: An increase in the elephant population in the forests of Jalpaiguri district in particular, is soon becoming a matter of concern for the forest department officials. To add to their problems, there is little or no scope to expand the forest areas, which is possibly the only solution to prevent them from venturing outside the forests and add to the growing number of man-animal conflict incidents.

According to the state forest minister Mr Anata Roy, the increasing number of elephants is also leading to an increase in the number of unnatural deaths of elephants. “We are doing our best to protect them but the problem has only magnified,” the minister said. Explaining the situation, the CCF north Bengal Mr S Patel said that the forest areas are not increasing in ratio with the elephant population growth.

“Earlier we extended the area of the Garumara National Park a few square kilometres. But such expansion is not possible everywhere as controversies regarding land would crop up. A lot of land has fallen to agriculture in the forest periphery. Acquiring such area is not possible either,” the CCF added.

Total 68 elephants died unnaturally in the past two years in the forests of the Dooars. “At present there are around 350 elephants in our forests. The number of elephant herds have increased drastically and their raids in the adjoining villages and in the tea plantations also increased this year,” Dr Patel said.

According to the official of an animal lovers’ association Mr Victor Basu, food has become scarce for the elephants, as the herbivore population has increased in the forests in general. “Other animals like deer, rhino, bison consume a share of the vegetation, which forces the elephants to stray out of jungle ultimately leading to unnatural deaths. The forest department must come up with a solution regarding the matter,” he said.