Jumbo worry on highway in Angul

Travelling on the National Highway No. 55 between the district and Angul has become a troublesome affair as elephants are often spotted crossing the road at three points resulting in traffic snarl.

Officials had earlier said the jumbos blocked the highway once or twice a week. But for the past one week, it has been noticed that the herds have been crossing the road almost every day during the evening hours.

Forest officials said the elephants generally travelled between Hindol and Kamakhayanagar. They have been noticed crossing the highway at three points - Rasasingha, Gunadeipur and Haldiabahal.

Assistant conservator of Dhenkanal forest J.N. Dash said 124 elephants crossed the road on Tuesday, blocking the traffic for two hours in the evening. On Wednesday, 44 elephants crossed from east to west side, disrupting the traffic for three hours. "We are monitoring the jumbo movements. Almost every day, they come from the Hindol side to the Brahamani river area and return at night in large or small groups. During the movement, they cross the national highway," he said.

Dash said that no untoward incidents had been reported yet. "There is no solution to the problem except that we regulate their movements on highway," he said.

Animal lovers are worried over the issue as the national highway would be expanded shortly. Divisional forest officer R. Kumari said: "We are aware of the difficulties, so we have suggested to construct underpass for the movement of elephants at the time of expansion."

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Elephant hit by train, dies

An elephant died after being hit by a train at Rajaji Tiger Reserve on Tuesday.

This is the second such accident on the track in the state this month. On March 11, an elephant was hit by a train in Lalkuan, Haridwar district. A baby elephant too was run over by a train on the same track on February 17. It is learnt that the Nandadevi Express that runs between Delhi and Dehradun was returning to Dehradun when at Kansro, the elephant was hit by the train. Such was the impact of the accident that it died on the very spot.


The Rajaji Tiger Reserve and railway authorities have been at loggerhead over such incidents. The wildlife authorities have called for limiting the speed of trains on this particular stretch.

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Speeding Train Plows Into Elephants in India, Killing 5 Animals

NEW DELHI — The night train to Silchar was moving fast — too fast, the authorities say.

As it chugged into a forested area of northeastern India on Saturday night, a group of villagers waved their flashlights frantically, urging the driver to slow down. He didn’t know why, but he soon found out.

Ahead in the darkness, a large herd of elephants was ambling across the railway tracks. When the train driver finally saw what was in front of him, he hit the emergency brake, railway officials said, but it was too late.

The 14-car passenger train plowed right into the herd. Two calves and two adult elephants were killed instantly, and an adult elephant that was badly injured died on Monday. Some local news reports said that several baby elephants had not even moved as the train approached, and that adult elephants had sought to protect them by surrounding them.

Indian forestry officials said the warnings had been ignored for a simple reason: The train was running 10 minutes late.

“The driver was trying to cover up the time,” said P. Sivakumar, a senior forestry officer in northern Assam, the state where the accident happened. The incident is now under investigation.


In some parts of India, especially in the northeast, it is quite common for elephants to pass through populated regions or to step across railway tracks — or even four-lane highways — in search of food. Many areas have been designated elephant corridors, where drivers are supposed to proceed with caution.

In the case over the weekend, the train operator was traveling above the speed limit of 30 kilometers, or about 20 miles, an hour, forestry officials said. Earlier in the day, the Forestry Department had sent several urgent notifications to railway operators that a large elephant herd was moving through the Habaipur area, about 250 kilometers north of Silchar, near India’s border with Bangladesh. The area is deep green on most maps, and a well-known refuge for elephants.

This episode is the latest in an unfortunate pattern. As recently as December, a train in Assam killed five adult elephants, including one that was pregnant.

But in India’s wildlife community, the latest accident seems to have reverberated more, adding to the sadness and outrage that has been building.

“The railways need to be held accountable,’’ said Prerna Singh Bindra, a conservationist and writer. “How come we have not learned our lessons?”

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Five elephants killed by train in India

A train has struck and killed five elephants as they crossed over tracks at a tea plantation in northeast India, an official said Monday.

The elephants, including a pregnant female, were part of a larger herd wandering through the plantation early Sunday in Assam state, home to India’s biggest wild elephant population, when they were mowed down by the train.

“All five elephants died on the spot. A stillborn calf was later removed from the pregnant female,” said Vikas Brahma, head of Assam’s forest department.

Brahma told AFP it was uncommon for elephants to move through that section of Assam, a thickly-forested state famed for its tea and wildlife, and officials were unaware there were herds in the area.

Railway authorities have been issuing alerts about elephant herds passing through the state to prevent accidents.

But a railway spokesman told the Indian Express newspaper that no speed restrictions were in place at the time of the accident on Sunday, as the area was not a designated migratory path for elephants.

Deforestation and construction activity near their habitats force elephants to stray further afield for food, often bringing them into conflict with humans.

Many busy migratory routes, known as elephant corridors, have been cut by roads and railway lines in Assam and neighbouring West Bengal state, increasing the risk of accidental deaths, poaching and stampedes.

Assam has 5,620 elephants according to a 2011 census, more than any other state in India.

An estimated 60 elephants have died so far this year in Assam, Brahma said.

Many of the deaths were caused by electrocution, as farmers erect electrified fences around their fields to keep wild animals away.

Elsewhere, an elephant killed a trainer during a procession at a Hindu temple in the southern state of Kerala on Sunday.

The elephant ran amok amid a large group of devotees, trampling and killing the trainer, the Press Trust of India reported.

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Elephant killed after knocked down by Sikkim bound truck on Sevok Road

An elephant was knocked down and killed by a Sikkim bound truck on Sevok Road under Kurseong sub-division near here, the forest department officials said today, The sub-adult tusker was the habitat of the Mahananda protected forest range area. The knock down happened at wee hours today near 7th Mile area when the pachyderm was crossing the road. The truck was confiscated by the forest officials.

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Elephant dies in M'bazar

A pet elephant, who suffered injuries in her waist seven days back, died at Bridge No. 5 of Moulvi-bazar Road in Sreemangal upazila on Friday morning.

Sirajul Islam, owner of the elephant, said a resident of Brahmanbaria district rented 'Rajlaxmi' several months back. On July 14, Sirajul brought Rajlaxmi back to Sreemangal. However, she received injuries in her waist while getting off a truck adjacent to Bridge  No. 5 of Moulvibazar Road.

Later, veterinary doctors  of Sreemangal Livestock Services Department gave treatment to Rajlaxmi in consultation with the doctors of Bangladesh National Zoo and Duluhazar Safari Park surgeon Dr Arifur Rahman.

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Indian train kills 3 elephants

Three elephants have been killed after being hit by a passenger train in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, a senior railway official said on Saturday.

The incident took place when the three—two female adults and a calf—were crossing railway tracks near Bishnupur in the state’ s Bankura district Friday night, the official said. Train movement in the area was affected for hours before being finally restored this morning, he said, adding a probe has been ordered into the incident.

Elephants often die of accidental electrocutions, poaching, poisoning by farmers to prevent them from damaging crops and after being run over by trains across India.

While elephants are worshipped by many in India, shrinking habitat has led to increased conflict with people and the deaths of many of the protected animals.

There are around 26,000 wild elephants in India, where it is a heritage animal.

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