Raj Mangal, oldest elephant at Chhatbir Zoo, dies at 70

A pall of gloom descended on Chhatbir Zoo following the death of its famous Asiatic elephant, Raj Mangal, here yesterday.

Raj Mangal was 70 years old and the oldest elephant at the zoo. It was brought to Chhatbir Zoo in 1997 and was around 50 years old at that time, said zoo officials.

The officials said Raj Mangal was the only tusker at Chhatbir zoo, bred with Hema, a female elephant, and had two baby elephants, named Seema and Rajveer. They said it was doing fine till two years ago, but due to unpredictable behaviour and health issues, it was kept off display since then and was continuously under veterinary care.

The elephant was suffering from orthopaedic disorders in the hind limbs. Due to weakness, the elephant was not able to stand on its own and a hydraulic crane was being used to give suitable support to the pachyderm for standing and feeding purposes, the officials said. The officials said the elephant’s breathing slowed down at 2.15 am. Even after medical intervention, no improvement was observed in its condition and Raj Mangal was pronounced dead around 9.30 am on Monday.

A panel of three veterinary officers was invited to conduct the postmortem.

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Guidelines issued to prevent deaths of elephants

Madurai: S Kalanithi, Megamalai wildlife division’s warden and officer-in-charge of Venniyar reserve forest near Cumbum, Theni district, on Thursday, submitted a report before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court stating that efforts were under way to alter the electric lines in the forests to prevent electrocution of elephants in future. The bench had earlier taken suo motu cognizance of a newspaper report on the electrocution of five elephants at the same spot in the Vanniyar reserve forest near Cumbum range and issued directions to the authorities to change the low-lying electric wires in the reserve forest. An elephant and her calf was electrocuted on June 19 this year and on September 4, a nine-year-old elephant was electrocuted. On November 24, two elephants were found dead at the same spot and the cause of death was said to be electrocution, the report stated. On Thursday, Kalanithi submitted the report stating that they have suggested guidelines issued by the National Board of wildlife to Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited (TANTRANSCO) to prevent electrocution death of elephants. According to the guidelines, the height at the lowest point of wires of power lines passing through all natural areas with known presence or movement of elephants shall be a minimum of 20 feet (6.6 meters) above ground on level terrain and a minimum of 30 feet (9.1 meter) above ground on steeper terrain. In between towers 47 and 48 crossing through Venniar reserve forest, the high voltage lines are very low lying (7-10 feet) for more than 50 meters, warden stated and submitted that an additional tower may be erected or the existing tower height shall be increased to increase the ground clearance to above 20 feet.

Until rectification of the low lying electric high tension lines, temporary discontinuation of electric supply was suggested and the same was accepted by TANTRANSCO.

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SC asks WB govt to follow Centre's guidelines on management of human-elephant conflicts

The Supreme Court told the West Bengal government Tuesday to follow the Centre's guidelines on management of human-elephant conflicts to ensure a smooth movement of the animals and reduce the possibility of their death or damage of crops.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said this after the counsel appearing for West Bengal said they were willing to abide by the "guidelines for management of human-elephants conflict" issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The West Bengal government also said it would consult the Wildlife Institute of India on using new or commonly used methods to reduce the number of incidents of human-elephant conflict.

"No technology is available today to guide elephants. Unlike in Africa, in India, we have not mapped the corridors (for the movement of elephants). The corridors are changing. As of now, we only have the old technology of using a 'mashal' (fire torch) to guide the elephants. We are serious that we do not want any injury or death of elephants," the state's counsel said.

He added that the migration season of elephants would start soon and they would train people so that no injury was inflicted upon the pachyderms.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner, who had raised the issue of the use of spikes and fireballs in some states to drive away elephants, said "mashal" or fire should not be allowed to be used in the process.

"The problem is that animals are sensitive to fire and heat. Heat might lead to chaos among elephants or any other animals," the petitioner's lawyer said, adding, "Fire is not a solution."

However, the state's counsel said if "mashal" was not used, then there would be "uncontrolled movement" of elephants and in that case, people might take the law into their hands.

He also made it clear that the state was not averse to any suggestion as it was not treating the issue raised as adversarial.

The lawyer said they had not used spikes to drive away elephants in the state.

He also said that according to the apex court's direction, they had placed before the bench the names and designations of the forest department officials, who would be held responsible for any accident due to the use of fire torch.

At the fag end of the hearing, the counsel appearing for the Centre told the court that a meeting was held on November 22 and the authorities had "in-principle" agreed to set up a high-powered committee to oversee adherence to the guidelines on the management of human-animal conflicts across the country.

The Centre said four weeks' time would be needed to form the committee.

The bench then posted the matter for further hearing in the third week of January.

On October 22, the court had observed that human-animal conflicts, especially involving elephants, were a "problem" and the Centre should consider setting up a task force to ensure adherence to the guidelines in this regard.

The top court had earlier termed the use of spikes and fireballs to drive away elephants "barbaric" and directed the states to desist from using such methods.

The directions of the court had come after it was told that these methods were allegedly being adopted in states, including Karnataka, West Bengal and Jharkhand.

The Karnataka government had earlier told the court that in July itself, the state authority had written to all the officers concerned for removing the spikes.

The counsel for West Bengal had said the state had issued guidelines that none of these harmful things would be used to drive away elephants.

Similarly, the Jharkhand government had also said it had not imposed any restrictions on the movement of wild elephants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


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Odisha discoms to disconnect power during elephant movement

Bhubaneswar, Nov 16 The Odisha government has asked the power distribution companies (discoms) to disconnect power supply in elephant corridors during the movement of pachyderms, said an official on Friday.

The direction of the state government came after it drew flak following the death of several elephants including seven in Dhenkanal district due to electrocution recently.

"The death of elephants due to electrocution in recent times has been a matter of great concern. In this regard it is requested to disconnect power supply in elephant corridors as well as movement areas on getting credible information from Forest Department or any reliable sources regarding movement of elephants/ wildlife in the said areas," said Energy Department Special Secretary Surajit Das in a letter to the discoms.

Further, it is requested to ensure reconnection of power supply after ascertaining safe exit of wildlife from the said area, he informed.

"This instruction must be followed meticulously and any deviation will be seriously viewed by the government," Das added.

Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi recently requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take urgent measures to stop elephant deaths in the state.

In a letter, she alleged that distribution companies are being given a free hand in elephant corridors without necessary oversight.

Seven elephants had died of electrocution under Dhenkanal Sadar forest range last month.

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