Man-elephant conflicts in Meghalaya claimed 25 lives in 5 yrs

Shillong: Nearly 10,000 cases of conflicts between humans and elephants have been reported from Meghalaya in the past five years, claiming the lives of 25 people and causing widespread damage to crops, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said.

The state is home to around 1,800 elephants and the Garo Hills region itself accounts for approximately two-thirds of such conflicts, said the CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2017, recently tabled by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in the Assembly. “Over 9,622 cases of human-elephant conflicts (HEC) were registered with the forest department, resulting in death of 25 persons, injury to 22 persons and damage of crops in about 4,009 ha (hectare) area,” it said.

The CAG report, covering the period between 2012 and 2017, stated that over 6,500 cases were registered in the Garo Hills region, including the Balpakram National Park. Around 2,500 cases were reported from the Khasi Hills region. An amount of Rs 4.41 crore was paid as ex-gratia payment to villagers for loss of life, damage to properties and agricultural crops, it said.


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Elephant attacks in Odisha district kill 6

Six persons, including one woman, have been killed by marauding elephants in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district since April 10. Among them is a 70-year-old attacked on Saturday morning, when she had gone out to answer nature’s call, in the Kaurianpal village of the Sadar range.

Sources said that affected villagers in the interior pockets are turning restless as human casualties rise. “The Sadar range of Dhenkanal district is now the most elephant conflict-prone area in the State, probably in the country. This area is home to over 25 elephants, with another group of over 40 elephants coming in intermittently from adjoining ranges,” said Biswajit Mohanty, an environmentalist.

There were 10 elephant-human encounters in which four persons were killed and eight were injured in April 2017 in this range.

“Elephants are disturbed due to obstructions such as the Rengali irrigation canal network, the National Highway... and the frequent movement of trucks in and out of industries and quarries. No sincere effort is being taken by the State Forest Department to inform people about the movement of elephants in advance,” alleged Mr. Mohanty.

According to Ranjit Patnaik, a wildlife researcher, in 2017, the human-elephant encounters in Odisha touched a record high of 120, and 85 people were killed by elephants.

“As far as the Dhenkanal district is concerned, 53 elephants have died in the past four years while 61 persons have been killed by jumbos. Human-elephant encounters are increasing sharply in the district,” said Mr. Patnaik.

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Stray elephants destroy crops, triggers panic in Bihar

A herd of elephants strayed into villages in Araria district situated along the Indo Nepal border, triggering panic among local people and destroying crops, a forest official said.

The elephants, said to be about half a dozen in number, were spotted in Sikti police station area where they are destroying acres of standing wheat and maize crops, District Forest Officer D K Das said.

Local residents ran helter skelter, leading to a stampede-like situation in which at least two people were injured, he said.

He said the elephants appeared to have come from the jungles along the Indo Nepal border and forest department officials have been deployed to chase the pachyderms out of the inhabited areas.

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82 people killed, 55 injured in elephant attacks in Odisha, says Minister

Bhubaneswar: As many as 82 people were killed in separate elephant attacks till February 2018, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray informed to Odisha Assembly on Wednesday in response to a question.

While 66 persons were killed in elephant attacks in 2016-17, as many as 82 people were killed and 55 others injured in 2017-18, the Minister said.

Standing crops in nearly 5,401.98 acres of land and 1,119 houses were destroyed in different parts of the state by herds of wild elephants.

Similarly, 143 wild animals including 11 elephants, 10 leopards, 1 tiger and 119 deer were killed by poachers during the last four years in the State.

The Minister informed that Odisha government had 522 anti-depredation squads and one Wildlife Protection Squad has been formed to put a check on poaching incidents.

“State Crime Cell has been constituted under CID, Crime Branch to nab the miscreants involved in the poaching of wildlife. All assistance is being provided to forest officials to put a check on smuggling and trafficking of wildlife animals and products with coordination from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB),” the Minister said.

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Kumkis to chase away wild elephant

Gudalur forest officials are using kumkis from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve to chase away an elephant raiding crops and posing a risk to members of the public in Pakanna village in Bitherkad Forest Range. C.

Manoharan, Bitherkad Forest Range Officer, said that the elephant, damaged a motorcycle, and injured a person in the last two months at Pakanna, and Puthur Vayal. As a result, residents were petitioning the District Collector, and the forest department, demanding that the elephant be chased away. “In order to prevent any such incidents from occurring, and safeguarding both residents as well as the animal, the District Forest Officer has taken an initiative to chase away the elephant into a reserve forest,” added Mr.

Manoharan. The Gudalur District Forest Officer, P.K.

Dileep, has instructed forest staff, including watchers to keep a tab on the elephant.

Forest department officials said that the elephant was part of a herd of three animals in the area.

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Man-jumbo conflict rises in Assam

Guwahati: Wild elephants have trampled to death 149 people and damaged 1,880 hectares of crops in Assam in the past two years.

Environment and forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma told the Assembly on Thursday that 92 people died and 56 were injured in 2016-17 while 57 died and 19 were injured in 2017-18 in man-elephant conflict in the state.

Replying to a question by BJP legislator Ranoj Pegu, Brahma said elephants destroyed 634.6 hectares of agricultural land, affecting 1,208 families, in 2016-17. The figure rose to 1,246.1 hectares, affecting 2,194 families, in 2017-18. Altogether 3,546 houses - 1,752 in 2016-17 and 1,794 in 2017-18 - were damaged because of elephant depredation.

Two elephants were poisoned to death and one died of deliberate electrocution in 2016-17 while eight died of poisoning the next year, she said.

Pegu expressed concern over the man-elephant conflict that, he said, had assumed serious proportions in Dhemaji, Majuli, Jorhat, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts.

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Elephant seeing forest pig runs amok in Sabarimala

A temple elephant brought to the festival at the Lord Ayyappa temple here, ran amok after seeing a forest pig at Pamba-Sannidhanam Road on Tuesday.

The incident occurred when the elephant reached Swami Ayyappan Road where the forest pig moved near to the elephant. The elephant got panicked and began running amok forcing people ran helter-skelter.However, the mahouts intervened swiftly and brought the elephant under control after some time. Sources said a man, who was fainted while running, suffered injuries on his leg. He was admitted to a hospital in Pamba. The temple authorities brought the elephant to the temple for the 10-day festival which begins Wednesday.

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Elephants turn unruly; mahout, devotees injured at Guruvayur temple

Three elephants turned unruly during Kazhcha Sheeveli at Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple on Sunday morning.

One of the elephants attacked its mahout Peringaode Subhash, who has been admitted to a hospital. Many devotees suffered minor injuries as the crowd ran helter-skelter. The elephants were brought into control by the mahouts after sometime.

There was heavy rush in the temple on Sunday morning. Apart from regular rush, Ayyappa devotees from various states too added to the crowd.

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Elephant kills man in Rudrapur area

In a bizarre incident in Udham Singh Nagar district, a man was trampled to death by an elephant in the Rudrapur area. Victim Ashok was returning to his house after work when he was chased by an elephant, who subsequently trampled him to death.

In another incident in Haridwar district, a forest guard, a police jawan and a home guard jawan were injured by an elephant. The incident happened when an elephant strayed into the BHEL area. On getting know of the elephant’s entry into the habitation, forest guards rushed to the site of the incident and tried to shoo away the animal towards the forest area. A forest guard, Pratap Singh, was also injured by the agitated elephant. Another police jawan, Bhola Ram, who tried to intervene, was also injured by the animal.

After shots were fired into the air, the elephant rushed towards the Vishnulok Colony in Haridwar where it attacked a home guard Jawan, Uday. To make matters worse, some elephants strayed into the Roshanabad area o. Forest guards had to make efforts to force the animals back into the forest.

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55-yr-old man suffers multiple fractures in elephant attack

A 55-year-old man suffered multiple fractures after being flung by an elephant at Karaiyur near pargur hill area in this district late last night.

Police said Mathan was fast sleep on a raised platform in front of his house when a lone elephant picked him up and flung him away

He suffered fracture in his hands, legs and wrists and has been admitted to Anthiyur government hospital for treatment, they said.

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Two labourers injured in wild elephant attack

Madikeri: Two labourers were injured when a wild elephant attacked them while working in a coffee estate in Chennayyanakote near Siddapura on Wednesday.

It is said that when a group of four women were working in the coffee estate, a tusker abruptly attacked them. The injured Nabisa (45) and Nasima (40) have been shifted to Madikeri district hospital after providing first aid in Siddapura PHC. Forest officers visited the spot and promised to give all the expenses of medical treatment.

It may be recalled here that just a month ago, a labourer was killed by wild elephants in Badaga Banangala near Siddapura. According to forest department sources, a total of 5 persons have died due to elephant attacks so far during the last six months.

The villagers have been frequently protesting demanding the translocation of elephants in Virajpet taluk. The department also sent a proposal of Rs 650 Crore to the state government to erect solar and railway gate fence to prevent wild elephants' trespass into human habitats.

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