Death Of Two Elephants Forces Removal Of Elephant Deterrent Spikes

India has long failed to control problems caused by their nations elephant population and their latest Elephant Deterrent Spikes was no different.

The Indian Army has begun removing rows of Elephant Deterrent Spikes that were put in place to keep the big tuskers from wandering off sanctuary grounds.

sharp iron spikes cemented on the ground to keep elephants off its Narengi Cantonment in Guwahati bordering the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Army had planted the pointed barrier especially to deter herds that would raid the supply depot and soldiers’ kitchens. Assam’s wildlife officials said the Army ignored several formal requests to remove the spikes.

A senior Army officer, declining to be quoted, said they had taken note of reports of elephant deaths to start working on removing the spikes.

Pradipta Baruah, the Divisional Forest Officer of Guwahati Wildlife Division, said bloodstains pointed to elephants getting injured after stepping on the spikes.

‘Cruel strategy’

“At least two elephants in the sanctuary died of septicemia since December last year while others have been injured. Their legs bore signs of the outcome of the insensitive and cruel strategy to keep elephants at bay,” he told The Hindu.

Mr Baruah had written the last letter seeking removal of the spikes to a Colonel in charge of the administration of the Cantonment after the first elephant died on December 25.

Wildlife veterinarians said that the second elephant that died in February had been carrying the spike-induced infection in a leg for a long time.

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NGT slaps fine over electrocution of elephants in Odisha

Nearly two months after seven elephants were electrocuted by a sagging power line in the highly-industrialised Dhenkanal district of Odisha, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) today slapped an additional penalty of Rs 40 million on the state’s Central Electrical Supply Undertaking (CESU) for its lackadaisical attitude towards safety of both humans and animals.

This brings the total penalty up to Rs 50 million since October. The principal bench of NGT headed by its chairman, Justice Adarsh Goel imposed the fine. In October, NGT had registered a case against CESU after taking a suo-motu cognizance of media reports and had already imposed a fine of Rs 10 million.

On October 26, seven elephants were electrocuted when they came in contact with a carelessly-laid cable supplying power to a railway construction site from an 11 KV line in the Dhenkanal Sadar forest.

One of the elephant cows was pregnant with a 18-month unborn foetuswhich officials found after cutting open her belly. Though wildlife officials had intimated CESU earlier, no action was taken.

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NGT slaps fine over electrocution of elephants in Odisha | india news

Nearly two months after seven elephants were electrocuted by a sagging power line in the highly-industrialised Dhenkanal district of Odisha, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) today slapped an additional penalty of Rs 40 million on the state’s Central Electrical Supply Undertaking (CESU) for its lackadaisical attitude towards safety of both humans and animals.

This brings the total penalty up to Rs 50 million since October. The principal bench of NGT headed by its chairman, Justice Adarsh Goel imposed the fine. In October, NGT had registered a case against CESU after taking a suo-motu cognizance of media reports and had already imposed a fine of Rs 10 million.

On October 26, seven elephants were electrocuted when they came in contact with a carelessly-laid cable supplying power to a railway construction site from an 11 KV line in the Dhenkanal Sadar forest.

One of the elephant cows was pregnant with a 18-month unborn foetuswhich officials found after cutting open her belly. Though wildlife officials had intimated CESU earlier, no action was taken.

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https://southasiansnews.com/2018/12/20/ngt-slaps-fine-over-electrocution-of-elephants-in-odisha-india-news/

THIS NEW DEVICE COULD SAVE THOUSANDS OF ELEPHANTS FROM BEING HIT BY TRAINS IN INDIA

A new, high-tech device is set to be tested in India that could prevent the rising number of elephants killed by trains.

A decade in the making, the device — developed by Professor Subrat Kar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi — uses sensors, cameras, and lasers to detect the presence of elephants near the train tracks. Once elephants are detected, the sensors send messages directly to drivers so they can either slow down or stop the train completely.

This device is long overdue and highly needed; India has the highest number of elephant deaths due to trains in the world. Between 1987 and 2017, 266 elephants were killed by trains.

Last year, 12 elephants were killed by trains, but 2018 has already seen the death of 26 elephants due to railway collisions.

In February this year, five elephants were tragically killed when hit by a speeding train. The herd included young calves who were unable to move off the tracks in time; the adult elephants surrounded the babies in an attempt to save them, resulting in the death of two babies and three adults.

Only a month ago, another elephant was killed as it tried to cross the tracks in Assam.

These numbers are shocking, especially since authorities have been trying to address the problem for the last five years. New rules came into play last year stating that trains must go no faster than 30 km per hour in elephant corridors, and wildlife officials are supposed to let the Railways department know about movements of herds close to the tracks. In some spots, there are even speakers which emit the sound of buzzing bees in an attempt to deter elephants.

A LadyFreethinker petition urging India’s Minister of Railways to take action on this issue has reached nearly 18,000 signatures.

SIGN: Stop Freight Trains from Killing India’s Elephants

Elephant/human conflict is a massive problem for the nation, as the population expands into key habitats and elephants are forced to interact with people and deal with manmade hazards.

Train tracks cross through 20 of India’s 101 elephant corridors, and the problem is only going to increase as infrastructure — including more railway lines — spreads across the country.

With elephant deaths occurring with increasing regularity, this device can’t come soon enough; however, researchers are waiting until the 2019 monsoon season to commence testing at a site in the Rajaji National Park.

“We will install sensors at sensitive spots, and not everywhere,” said Subrat Kar, the developer of the device. “There are known paths along which the elephants move, so we install sensors on these paths, which detect them through bodyrays, cameras, and vibration.

“The success of this preventive measure depends on detecting the elephants much before the train is there. Three kilometers before roughly translates to 3-4 minutes before.

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https://ladyfreethinker.org/new-device-save-thousands-elephants-hit-trains-india/

Jumbo task in tiger hunt

A herd of more than 20 elephants went on the rampage in the forests near Lalgarh, destroying two of the hidden cameras that had photographed a tiger in the area on Friday.

Six cameras remain but none is safe with the elephants around. The elephants that entered Jhargram around 48 hours ago could scare the tiger and drive it away to another forest, wildlife officials said.

The forest department laid two traps with live bait for the tiger on Sunday but now capturing the animal seems a daunting task.

"Capturing a tiger is in itself a tough job. But we had zeroed in on a broad location. The elephants have made things even more challenging. We might have to expand the area of operation," said Ravikant Sinha, the chief wildlife warden of Bengal.

Two of the elephants, one of them a tusker, were separated from the herd and ran amok in nearby villages and Lalgarh town.

"The elephants uprooted several trees and trampled over small bushes and twigs. The cameras were placed inside tree trunks and other hidden spots," said Rabindranath Saha, the divisional forest officer of Midnapore. "They destroyed potato farms and crushed two-wheelers. The walls of a few buildings were also damaged."

Forest officials and villagers managed to drive the elephants back into the forest by evening.

Elephants from Jharkhand's Dalma region often enter Jhargram but the presence of the tiger in the jungle has complicated things this time.

No fresh pug marks were spotted in Melkhedia jungle on Sunday, prompting some officials to suspect that the predator may have moved to Kamrangi forest, less than 5km from Lalgarh. "Kamrangi forest is covered with layers of dried sal leaves. It will be difficult to trace pug marks there," said Saha.

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https://www.telegraphindia.com/calcutta/jumbo-task-in-tiger-hunt-213252