86 persons were killed in 2018-19, toll likely to go up
Three persons, including a child, were killed since Friday when elephants strayed into human habitation in different districts of Odisha. The three deaths took the human death toll in man-elephant conflict in the State to 86 in 2018-19 — the highest in a year.
Dayanidhi Sahu, 65, on his way to the village pond, was trampled to death on Saturday. Kedar Nath Prasad, an octogenarian, was attacked by a wild elephant wandering since February 28 in the Deulabeda area of Angul district. A seven-year-old boy died when a wall knocked by an elephant collapsed in the Baraghat village in Sundargarh district on Friday night.
Rising encounters
“In 2017-18, 84 persons died in encounters with elephants. This year, 86 deaths have already taken place. The toll is likely to go up with another month’s time left to complete the estimation,” said Ranjit Patnaik, campaigner with the Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO), an NGO.
“This year, man-elephant encounters shot up to 159 against 120 last year. As many as 101 persons escaped with critical injuries after being chased by wild elephants,” said Mr. Patnaik.
Dhenkanal remains one of the most affected districts. “Of the 159 encounters, Dhenkanal accounts for 50. Twenty-one persons died and 38 were injured in the attacks,” he said.
According to government records, 680 people lost their lives in attacks by wild animals between 2011-12 and 2018-19. Of the 680 deaths, 535 human deaths were caused by elephant attacks.
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