CHENNAI: Venniyar beat in the Cumbum east forest in Theni district has emerged as the killing fields of wild elephants in Tamil Nadu, going by the death of eight jumbos in the past six months. Five of the elephants were male, and their tusks were found missing - sawed off by poachers.
On Tuesday, a 23-year-old tusker was found dead with its tusks removed.
When contacted, wildlife warden of Theni S Kalanidhi said, “It was an adult animal and its tusks were missing. We are investigating whether the death was due to poaching or the animal died of electrocution and its tusks were removed after its death,” he said.
A postmortem will be conducted on Wednesday.
On Monday, wildlife officials from Kerala came to Theni and secured two persons – Prabhu and Thanga – and recovered a pair of ivory tusks from them. Kalanidhi said it was a joint operation.
Conservationists, requesting anonymity, told TOI that organised poaching gangs were roaming deep inside the Theni forest division, and that there was rampant poaching.
Unlike neighbouring Kerala, where the forest intelligence wing keeps track of wildlife poachers, Tamil Nadu does not have such a mechanism, resulting in wildlife poaching going unreported and unabated, the conservationists said.
They claimed that the two recent arrests in Theni too happened only due to the efforts and initiatives of intelligence wing officials from the Kerala forest department. Only a fair probe into the elephant deaths in Theni district, effective anti-poaching surveillance and prosecution would deter poachers, they said.
Another conservationist said according to wildlife officials in Theni, high tension power lines passing through the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary were responsible for the deaths. After the issue was taken up by Madurai bench of the Madras HC as suomotu PIL proceedings, supply on the line in the Venniyar area was disconnected. “If that is the case, how did another wild elephant die ‘due to electrocution’,” he said.
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Another conservationist said according to wildlife officials in Theni, high tension power lines passing through the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary were responsible for the deaths. After the issue was taken up by Madurai bench of the Madras HC as suomotu PIL proceedings, supply on the line in the Venniyar area was disconnected. “If that is the case, how did another wild elephant die ‘due to electrocution’,” he said.
Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/8-jumbos-found-dead-in-theni-in-6-months-tusks-missing/articleshow/67051642.cms
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