Elephants continue to die at Odisha forests

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha forests continue to be a graveyard for elephants as the State now has acquired the dubious distinction of recording the highest number of unnatural jumbo deaths. Between April 2018 and February 11 2019, as many as 77 elephants have died in Odisha. Unnatural deaths comprise train mishaps, electrocution, poaching and poisoning. The total number of elephant deaths stands at 80, the highest in last three years.

According to facts presented before the Parliament by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Mahesh Sharma, by end of December 2018, 75 elephants had died of unnatural causes. Majority of the elephant mortalities have been reported in Odisha and the bizarre pattern has remained unchanged over the years. In 2017-18, as many as 105 unnatural elephant deaths were registered in the country and 74 were from the eastern State alone.

In 2016-17, the country-wide unnatural death number stood at 89 whereas in Odisha, it was 71. A year before, out of 104 such deaths, 74 were recorded in the State. This year, Wildlife Wing of Odisha Government records say two elephants were poached while 13 died of accidental electrocution and nine fell to deliberate attempts of electrocution.

Train accidents accounted for seven deaths while other accidents such as infighting, stampede, falling in well and ditches and lightning claimed 15 more jumbo lives. Diseases, including anthrax which is reported mostly around Similipal Tiger Reserve, caused 26 deaths. Wildlife Wing has no clue about reasons behind deaths of five elephants in Baripada, Bonai, Deogarh, Ghumsur and Rourkela forest divisions.

Among the forest divisions, Dhenkanal tops the list with 16 deaths, all unnatural. Ten deaths were by train mishaps. Besides, Athagarh forest division reported nine deaths followed by six in Jharsuguda. With large-scale destruction of habitats caused by linear infrastructure projects, man-elephant conflict continued to be grim in the State. By end of December 2018, as many as 45 persons were killed by elephants. During 2017-18, the number was 105. With 86 human deaths, Assam was at the top while neighbouring West Bengal reported 45 human casualties caused by the jumbos.

The serious conflict situation also resulted in the State Government shelling out huge sums in compensation to the kin of victims. During 2018-19, the total compensation amount is set to cross Rs 3 crore. Odisha pays `4 lakh as ex gratia per each human death besides separate compensation for crop and house damage.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2019/feb/12/jumbo-shame-for-state-1937697.html

Forest dept to explore tech use to prevent jumbo deaths

Kolkata: Concerned over the death of elephants, particularly on the railway tracks in North Bengal, the state Forest department will hold a workshop at Chalsa on November 16 and 17, to explore technology that can be adopted to prevent such deaths. "There are a number of technologies that are presently available to track the movement of jumbos in the forest areas. But calibrating them has been the challenge. The workshop will deliberate upon and showcase the various technologies and at the same time, there will be demonstrations on the calibration aspect too," said Ravi Kant Sinha, the chief wildlife warden of the state.

It may be mentioned that IIT Delhi has come up with a seismic sensor technology that will give a vibratory signal about the pachyderms' movement near rail tracks, once fitted. A message would be sent to the nearest station master and the driver of trains about to pass through the area, so that they remain alert.

"There are some other technologies involving CCTV surveillance and sending alerts through SMS to the train driver that will be showcased at the two day workshop," added Sinha. The railway tracks between Siliguri and Alipurduar, stretching close to 165 km, have witnessed more than 60 elephants being killed by trains since 2004. The tracks pass through several forest areas, including the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Jaldapara National Park and Buxa Tiger Reserve. The conference is being organised by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the state Forest department. Senior officials from National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will also be present at the two day conference, along with representatives of Railways, the Wildlife Institute of India, NGOs and local communities. "There have been a handful of elephant deaths on national highways as well. We want to have a comprehensive technological use to curb jumbo deaths. So, we are involving every single stakeholder," a senior official of the state Forest department said. Prodded by the Supreme Court to curb the death of elephants on railway tracks and by electrocution, it was 2013 when the ministry of Environment and Forests had proposed the use of technology. A pilot project to test the sensors is underway at the Rajaji National Park near Dehradun. The issue of the death of the pachyderms has come up for discussion in several meetings between the state government and the Railways in particular. The South Eastern Railway has plans to restrict the speed of trains from 7 pm till 5 am in the morning at 70 km per hour in Kharagpur and Adra division that covers forest areas of Purulia, West Midnapore and Jhargram.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/forest-dept-to-explore-tech-use-to-prevent-jumbo-deaths-326609