Maneka Gandhi tells Army to act against elephant deaths in Assam, remove ‘dreadful spikes’

New Delhi: Days after a bed of six-inch long metal spikes installed by the Indian Army in Assam allegedly claimed the life of a male elephant, union minister Maneka Gandhi took up the issue with Army Chief Bipin Rawat and asked him to immediately remove the deadly spikes.

The spikes, laid down by the Army to prevent elephants around the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in Guwahati from entering the military installation adjacent to it, have allegedly caused at least two elephant deaths, and left several injured.

Taking strong exception to the Army’s installation of what she called “the dreadful spikes”, Maneka said, “Whoever in the Army has done this needs to be pulled up…The Army has no business of putting these lethal spikes in the middle of a forest.

“I have spoken to the commander-in-chief, and he told me he has no knowledge of this, and will take immediate action,” she told ThePrint Friday.

“We have less than 15,000 elephants left in this country, are we going to kill them all?” she said.

According to the 2017 census of elephants, there are 27,312 elephants in the country, which account for 55 per cent of the total elephant population in the world.

Also read: To protect India’s elephants, we have to preserve wildlife corridors not just forests

Gandhi not the only one to outrage

A month before the male elephant was found dead on 4 March — it reportedly succumbed to septicaemia caused by a wound in the leg — the forest department had warned the Army against the “cruel” measure, asking it to remove the spikes, which would endanger the lives of the “innocent animals”.

In a letter written on 28 December — a day after another elephant was injured — District Forest Officer (DFO), Pradipta Baruah said, “This type of cruel effort to keep the elephants at bay is definitely going to defeat the very spirit of wildlife protection and preservation.

“You are, therefore, requested to do away with this type of detrimental measures… and evolve to take recourse to a more compassionate method in tandem with the wildlife division in the true spirits of protecting the wildlife.”

According to the post-mortem report of the elephant, it had punctured wounds on its right hind leg and foreleg which officials in the forest department believe were caused due to the spikes.

“Several elephants have been injured in this area due to these spikes, and we have constantly maintained that the Army should remove them, but nothing has been done till now,” an official in the Guwahati wildlife division told ThePrint.

“The way to deal with man-animal conflict is not to put the lives of animals in jeopardy,” the official said.

Long-drawn problem in Assam

While man-animal conflict is a raging issue across several parts of the country, it is particularly stark in Assam, where 249 elephants and 761 people have died since 2010 owing to the problem.

Poaching, train-related accidents, poisoning and electrocution have all contributed to the dwindling elephant population in the region.

Additionally, the shrinking natural habitat of elephants compels them to stray into human habitation, thereby increasing the incidents of conflict.

According to environment ministry data, in the last five years, nearly 500 elephants have died in the country due to unnatural factors.

Out of the 490 deaths recorded since 2013, more than half the deaths — 267 — have occurred due to electrocution, followed by poaching (92), rail accidents (72), revenge killings (36) and poisoning (23).

Also read: WCD not a soft ministry, it looks after 70% of India’s population: Maneka Gandhi

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EC’s humane move, bans live animals in campaign

The Election Commission has imposed a blanket ban on the use or live demonstrations of animals during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, delighting animal lovers across the country.

In its Manual on the Model Code of Conduct, the EC has made it absolutely clear (on page 144 of chapter 22.5) that all animals, birds or reptiles of any type cannot be used while canvassing for votes by political parties or their candidates.

The manual states: “The EC has advised the political parties and candidates to refrain from using any animal for election campaign in any manner. Even a party, having reserved symbols depicting an animal should not make live demonstration of that animal in any election campaign of the party/any of its candidates.” Several Indian animal rights groups like PETA India, environmentalists and naturalists have wholeheartedly lauded the EC decision.

“EC and PETA India agree that using animals in election campaigns is unnecessary, archaic and cruel,” said PETA CEO M. Valliyate.

He said political parties/candidates must stick to eye-catching and creative campaigns without subjecting the helpless animals to the frightening torture of frenetic crowds, loudspeakers and other campaign-related jamboree.

In the past, Valliyate said the PETA India had written to the EC, all State Election Commissions and political parties, expressing concern over how animals are forced into the middle of screaming crowds during election campaigns and poll rallies.

Even worse, these terrified animals were often beaten, whipped, kicked and terrorised while being paraded through streets and shoved into mobs of wildly shouting and pushing crowds, it pointed out.

The animals were compelled to carry heavy loads, much in excess of their physical capacity, denied sufficient food, water or rest and faced the prospects of severe injuries in the public mayhem.

Ganesh Nayak, Chairman of NGO Animals Matter To Me (AMTM) Mumbai, lauding the EC, told IANS: “Finally, we have become humane towards these silent creatures, who are tormented during the election gimmicks of us humans. The EC must strictly monitor implementation of its orders.” The colourful Indian elections have seen many animals and birds being allotted as symbols by the election authorities for various national state or local elections.

Some of the popular animals include: elephants, tigers, deer, camels, cows, bulls, donkeys, parrots, peacocks, doves, hens, cats, dogs and snakes et al.

The candidates, and occasionally even political parties, go to weird lengths to get the voters to identify with the animals allotted as their poll symbols.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has an elephant as its symbol while the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) has a tiger as its mascot, with many major political parties worldwide having animals as their symbols, most notably the US Democratic Party’s donkey and the Republican Party’s elephant.

In India, there are post-Independence records of a candidate in West Bengal hiring an elephant (his poll symbol) to accompany him on the campaign trail; another who was allotted a tiger, rented a caged tiger and took it around his constituency! In the 1950s, a candidate allotted a chicken symbol, took a live hen out on the campaign trail but an eagle swooped on it and gobbled it up − and the wannabe politician lost the polls.

Concurring with the EC, eivnornmentalist Bittu Sahgal said that using live animals “is not just cruelty but displays insensitivity”, particularly with young voters.

“Politicians must understand that values have changed and (by using live animals) they would probably lose votes,” Sahgal told IANS.

Following PETA India’s appeal in 2012, the EC had issued a directive to all political parties and candidates to refrain from using animals during election rallies.

Later, PETA India followed this up and several like Maharashtra, Assam, Mizoram, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have decreed that the use of live animals representing the allotted symbols of political parties/candidates would not be permitted in the election campaign.

Separately, popular actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena on Thursday launched his party’s campaign for next month’s elections to Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha, promising Rs5,000 pension to farmers, KG to PG free education and 10 lakh jobs in five years.

Indo-Asian News Service

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Wild dogs flee as a herd of trumpeting elephants charge towards them to protect their calves

A herd of elephants have been captured fiercely protecting their young from a pack of wild dogs in South Africa.

Guide Brent Leo-Smith came across the stand-off in Djuma Private Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands, the north-east of the country.

The tour guide slowly follows the wild dogs from behind in a vehicle.

The dogs are heading down a path when suddenly the elephants appear from the bushes.

The nine dogs are outnumbered by their colossal opponents who start to roar and intimidate them.

The elephants group together and stand their ground as the dogs flee one by one.

Even the young calf charges with the elephants who then form a protective ring around the more vulnerable animal.

Elephants notoriously hate predators and were really not happy about the wild dogs being in their space.

Dogs hunt in packs but according to the tour guide, they are unlikely to kill elephants.

Mr Leo-Smith said: 'Wild dogs don't show any actual potential threat to the elephants, I've never heard of a wild dog attacking a baby elephant.

'But elephants react really negatively to any predator.'

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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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Elephant pooja in kerala temple festival

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Elephant pooja in kerala temple festival

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Hungry elephant CHARGES vacationers on safari after rising from bushes

TOURISTS shrieked in terror as a hungry elephant charged a safari buggy.

The frightening moment the huge animal emerged from bushes and ran at the holidaymakers was caught on film.

In the clip, it is seen slowly walking up the jungle bank before spotting the safari buggy and charging it.

The wild tusker was believed to be on the hunt for food at the time.

Tourists in a nearby vehicle are heard screaming and whaling, “Oh my God” as the elephant stomps along the road in Jalpaiguri district, North India.

Nervous bikers attempt to drive the beast away, but in a state of panic their vehicle falls to the ground.

Seconds later the driver manages to pick up the bike up and scoot off with the elephant just feet away.

He was left with minor injuries. No tourists were injured.

Encounters between wildlife and tourists have become quite common in Indi, where the animals come out in search of food.

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4 men convicted for hunting wild elephant for ivory | Coimbatore News

Coimbatore: Mettupalayam judicial magistrate court on Tuesday convicted four people for poaching a wild elephant in Sirumugai range of the Coimbatore forest division in 2011for ivory. Singam, Kubendran, Siva and Sentrayan from Theni were sentenced to three years of imprisonment along with a penalty of Rs 10,000 under the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and six months imprisonment with a penalty of Rs 500 under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882. TNN

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Malawi: Elephants Destroy 588 Hectares of Crops in Mangochi

Malawi: Elephants Destroy 588 Hectares of Crops in Mangochi

Mangochi — Elephants from Namizimu Forest Reserve in Mangochi have destroyed 588 hectares of crops in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Katuli in Mangochi, leaving over 3,000 households at ris

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A 900-million strong electorate makes Elections 2019 the biggest ever

At last, the dates are out for Elections 2019. This would be the biggest election in world history, with over 900 million registered voters, out of which 15 million are aged 18-19. The total electorate is more than the population of every continent.

The logistics are mind-boggling. There will be nearly one million polling stations, up 10.1% from the 2014 elections; 2.33 million ballot units, 1.63 million control units and 1.74 million VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails). In the wake of complaints against security of EVMs (electronic voting machines), GPS tracking has been enabled.

Also read: Elections 2019: A look at state-wise polling dates

Approximately 11 million polling staff (including security forces) will be randomized for neutrality. Over 120 trains with more than 3,000 coaches, and 200,000 buses and cars, besides a large variety of transport—from boats, elephants and camels to planes and helicopters—will transport the staff and materials with clockwork precision. Thousands of polling parties would walk 2-3 days to reach polling stations not otherwise accessible.

Scheduling of this magnitude is no simple task. Besides the logistics, several factors have to be taken into consideration, keeping voters’ convenience in mind. First, the school examinations make the month of March out of reckoning. Lakhs of schools and their teachers are involved in the polls. Weather conditions, agricultural cycle, festivals, (religious or social), law and order are also to be taken into consideration. Availability of paramilitary forces, demanded by every party, determines the number of phases since they have to be rotated because of limited numbers.

Also read: Elections 2019 won't throw up one result, but 29 different results

Finally, the announcement. The timing is extremely significant as the model code of conduct kicks in the moment the schedule is announced. The government is prohibited from announcing new schemes, new postings and transfers, and using government resources for campaigning.

There has been ample speculation about election dates, with some even casting aspersions on the Election Commission of India’s (EC’s) neutrality in determining the dates. These speculations disregard that EC has to do due diligence of a mind-boggling array of arrangements to tie up before it initiates the election process. At the same time, governments have to be mindful of public perception. Why keep announcements for absolute last minute when the approximate schedule is neither a matter of astrology nor rocket science? Jeopardizing EC’s image is unacceptable.

Also read: Election 2019: It is Narendra Modi vs The Rest, yet again

Historically, the election dates announced are synchronous with the past practice. Last three elections were held from 20 April to 10 May (four phases), 16 April to 13 May (five phases) and 7 April to 12 May (nine phases), respectively. These were announced on 29 February, 2 March and 5 March.

The speculations sometimes go to ridiculous extremes. I have myself been a victim. Way back on 6 February 2009, I was making a public presentation at India House London about the 2008 J&K elections. The 2009 elections were round the corner. A journalist asked me how the election dates are fixed. I explained that dates are decided on the basis of all the considerations mentioned above. It was clear that the window available was between 7 April to end-May. He reported it as if I had “revealed" the dates, which the commission had not even discussed till then. “We, in the Election Commission, have not yet discussed the final dates, but it will be held between April 8 and May 15," I was quoted as saying.

Needless to say that all hell broke loose. Many leaders commented that the dates were declared not in India but from London! The controversy was put to rest by a clarification by our high commissioner, who had chaired the meeting.

S.Y. Quraishi is former chief election commissioner of India and author of "An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election".

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More jumbos return home

A herd of around 20 elephants, which had migrated to the jungles of West Midnapore and Bankura in August-September last year, slipped into to Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday night.

While most of the 130 elephants have ambled back home, some are still stationed in the fringes of the 192sqkm sanctuary. Last week, around 90 jumbos had returned from the Bengal forests.

Availability of food and water is not an issue at the sanctuary and the presence of the gentle giants in good numbers is all set to attract tourists.

Jharkhand’s lone elephant sanctuary, located off NH-33 near Jamshedpur, draws tourists in droves from across the state as well as from neighbouring Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, thanks to it pristine beauty and inviting nature trails.

Elephant herds follow two corridors, one from Jhunjka and the other from Burudih. The first one leads to Nutandih while the second passes through Narsingpur in Ghatshila range, Suklara and Aamdapahari.

Both corridors merge at Mirjadih from where the animals cross Haludbani, Bhadodih, Bota and Dimna to reach the reserve.

Bota is the largest jungle in the Dalma sanctuary and elephants cross it before melting into the core area, which is comparatively cool.

A forest guard said the elephants moved into the sanctuary from Patamda and headed to the core area via Bota. “There were some calves in the herd,” he added.

The herd remained anchored in Ghatshila jungles for a fortnight or so. “Elephants anchor themselves where food and water are in abundance. We are happy that most of the jumbos are back home,” the forest guard said.

With most elephants back home, the forest authorities have issued directives to trackers (village youths recruited as daily wagers to keep tabs on movement of elephants) to be alert. Villages have also been asked to report any elephant movement to the range office in Mango.

Battery-powered torches, mashaals and crackers still remain to be distributed among heads of eco- development committees. The items are required to thwart elephants from entering villages in Dalma.

The state forest department was yet to replenish the stock. We are waiting for the same for distribution,” a staff at range office informed.

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With human-elephant conflict taking more lives on both sides, stakeholders are split over a sustainable solution

It was 8:45 in the morning and Gurappa was tending to his two-acre patch of coffee when he heard a familiar rustle. He froze, realising that just a few metres separated him from an unknown number of wild elephants hidden in the dense coffee bushes. Snapping out of the shock, he crouched down and saw the feet of at least three elephants. He didn’t waste another minute, scuttling away as fast as he could, crouching all the while.

“I was scared for my life,” says the 60-year-old farmer, spry enough to reenact his narrow escape some hours later at his home in Sakaleshpur taluk. Shashidhar, his son, chips in. “We are constantly on the lookout for elephants. And unless it is really necessary, we have stopped going out after 5 pm.”

The other day, when he went to a farmers’ meet, his family was on the edge till he returned home around 1 am.

This is Hassan district, the ground zero of human-elephant conflict in Karnataka.

In December last year, farmers here, including Shashidhar, staged a week-long agitation against crop damage by elephants.

The predominantly coffee-growing region, also the pocket borough of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, is often in the news for human-elephant conflicts. A loss of human life due to elephants triggers highway blockades and demands for the capture of the animal. There are nearly 35 wild elephants in just three taluks of Hassan, including Sakaleshpur.

Between 2013 and 2014, 22 wild elephants were captured from this area in one of the largest operations of its kind based on the Karnataka Elephant Task Force’s recommendations to the Karnataka High Court.

Even today, when someone dies in an elephant encounter, the demand for capturing the animals resurfaces. Under pressure, the state forest department catches one or two elephants, though these may not be the ones that caused the death. The situation then eases till the next crop damage, injury or death caused by elephants.

Karnataka has the highest number of wild elephants in the country, numbering more than 6,000.

But human-elephant conflict is not restricted to this state. From 2015 to December 31, 2018, 1,713 people and 373 elephants died due to these conflicts in different states, the environment, forests and climate change ministry told Parliament in February. West Bengal saw the most number of human deaths at 307, followed by Odisha with 305 deaths. A fews days back, in Bihar’s Supaul district, five people were reportedly killed after a wild elephant rampaged through several villages.

India is home to most of the Asiatic elephants and rising incidents of conflicts have become a source of worry for governments, conservationists and people living close to the wild animals. Loss of natural habitat and fragmentation have been bringing wild elephants closer to human habitations, sparking these conflicts.

“In the 1980s, the estimate was that elephants were killing around 100 people a year. Now, it is over 400. There is no doubt conflicts are increasing,” says Ajay Desai, a wildlife scientist, who has been on various government panels on elephants, and is a consultant with the World Wildlife Fund.

There are also region-specific variations. Southern Bengal is a classic case of how the problem was allowed to grow, he says.

Elephants in the 200-square-km Dalma sanctuary near Jamshedpur kept moving to nearly villages where there was paddy, despite being chased away by villagers. Their area of movement also began expanding. Around the same time in the early 1990s, a forestry programme in Bengal unwittingly offered shelter to these elephants, making the region a host to a resident elephant population along with a migrant elephant population.
Aritra Kshettry, a wildlife scientist working in northern Bengal, says that since the area’s landscape is fragmented, elephants move between one region and another to fulfil their ecological needs, increasing the frequency of run-ins with people.

“This is also a tribal belt, and alcoholism is rampant. Based on my research, more than 80% of those who died after an encounter with elephants were inebriated and trying to away chase the animals. The situation is said to be similar in Odisha and Jharkhand,” Kshettry told ET Magazine.

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Indian wildlife photographers to follow on social media

To all those constant social media users who have an eye for wildlife photography, here are a few Instagram and Twitter accounts that you must follow.

1. Rathika Ramaswamy

With close to 45.6K followers on Instagram, Chennai-based Rathika Ramaswamy is considered one of India's foremost woman wildlife photographers. She specialises in the field of bird photography and has travelled to most national parks and sanctuaries across the country and also across Africa to
document some of the rarest species of birds.

She published her first photo book on bird photography which contains the best images of her
collection. In 2014, she published a second photo book of her best wildlife moments named ‘The Best of Wildlife Moments’. She is one of the most commonly searched photographers on the web, according to xxlpix.com.

Her Instagram account features some of the most vibrant pictures of birds and other wildlife:

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Ministry publishes manual to mitigate attacks by elephants

Pune-based NGO behind guidelines to protect crops

Taking cue from a city-based NGO on their efforts to prevent damage caused to crops by elephants and mitigating man-animal conflict, the central government has published a reference manual. The manual would act as a guideline to all the 17 states in India to mitigate man-animal conflict with respect to elephants. The book, There’s Many a Way to Keep the Elephant Away, focusses on the review of crop protection and elephant management techniques under the community-based conflict management (CBCM) methods.

Rajiv Srivastava, former director of the elephant project and member of central project elephant monitoring committee of the government of India, said the manual would prove useful in mitigating the man-animal conflict. “Among all the conflicts reported with wildlife, issues with the elephant are most worrying. About 500 people die every year in India and at least 100 elephants either die or get severely injured,” Srivastava said. He added that crop raiding is a major issue and guidelines are needed to ensure that conflicts are kept to a minimum.

“Every state that has elephant population is facing the problem for which a participatory approach is required,” he said. “There have been guidelines and documents issued on preventive measures, but this is the first time that a manual has been released on a big scale,” Srivastava said.

Speaking to Mirror, Noyal Thomas, inspector general of forest and director of Project Elephant, run by the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, said, “The manual has been circulated to all the states. The states will ensure that best suitable practices are implemented depending on the region.”

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Elephant and two calves rescued by forest department

Madikeri, Karnataka, Mar 8 (UNI) The Karnataka forest department officials with local people
rescued two calves and an adult elephant which accidentally fell into an coffee estate pond in
Chelavara village near Cheyyandane in the district on Thursday.

Forest department officials said on Friday that the residents who were saw trumpeting sounds
found three elephants trapped in the pond used to water a coffee plantation owned by
Pattacheravanda Vasu Subbaiah yesterday.

As the pond is deep, the jumbos, despite repeated attempts, could not come out.

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Shocked driver comes face to face with a CHARGING elephant after driving around a bend into his territory

This dramatic footage shows the moment a driver finds himself in a charging match with an elephant.

Chainunt Sorncharoen, 37, had just driven around a bend in Nakhon Nayok, central Thailand on Monday when he spotted the male jumbo elephant in the road.

Feeling threatened by the oncoming car the elephant charges towards it.

In a perfect response the car quickly reverses back down the road, retreating from the elephant's territory.

Feeling satisfied that the car has backed off the elephant disappears off into the jungle.

Mr Sorncharoen calmly and bravely continues on the road after the elephant has moved.

The incident happened in Nakhon Nayok a small province north east of Bangkok, around a third of it covered by the Khao Yai National Park.

The park spans 2,168 square metres and is home to various national wildlife including bears, macaques and 300 elephants.

Roads surrounding the park have signs warning drivers of wild animals on the road however an incident in November saw a speeding driver hit an elephant before being stomped to death by the animal.

Drivers are warned to keep a 30 metre distance from the animals and keep their motors running so that they can retreat.

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Wildlife SOS kicks off Refuse to Ride elephant campaign

The Refuse to Ride campaign says it aptly: if you truly love elephants, you will never ride one. But even if you have a heart, you will not opt for jumbo joyride after knowing how their ears are clipped and beaten up for several days to train them to take rides.

Wildlife SOS, Delhi-based NGO which has been known for rescuing `dancing’ bears from the brutality of Indian roads, has also saved many elephants from atrocity. It kicked off the Refuse to Ride campaign, partnering with the Gatimaan Express–Indian Railway’s high speed tourist train between Delhi and Agra. The campaign aims to create awareness among tourists about the abuse that Asian elephants undergo at the hands of their handlers–be it in nature parks or cities like Jaipur where they are specifically used for joyrides.

Kartick Satynarayan, co-founder and chairman of Wildlife SOS says, “The campaign is aimed at creating awareness and promoting elephant protection using unusual mechanism. In the recent past, a number of these pachyderms have died across the railway lines being hit by trains. That is why we thought of using a train to spread the message. All the seats of the Gatimaan express (AC chair car train) having head rest covers with campaign flyers #refusetoride and information about the abused elephants. The food trays also have leaflets as liners where there are more details of the elephant deaths and abuse. We have also put up huge poster sized pictures of jumbos. And we already have received incredible feedback from the travellers and they say their souls are churned seeing those information. Tourists and public are innocent and ignorant. If they know the grim realities, they would definitely not ride one hereafter. That is the change we are looking at.”

He further added how the tuskers used for rides or carrying load are treated. “Elephants belong to the wild. They can get easily angered so they are trained through pain and fear mechanisms. They are constantly beaten up, and their ears are clipped…all this goes on until its spirit dies and it bows to the handler’s commands,” he says.

The campaign will go on for 30 days and plans are in place to roll it out in taxis in other cities too.

Elephant in India is a heritage animal and home to the largest population of the Asian elephant species until half a decade ago. According to the Elephant Census 2017, decline in numbers are starting to threaten the species already. Till 2017 survey, India had 27,312 tuskers in 23 states, a drop from an estimated 30,700 in 2012. In 2007, there were an estimated 27,670.

In the last eight years, the country witnessed 80 elephants dying every year, which totals up to 655. The observation of the census is that there were four main reasons for this–electrocution, train accidents/collision, poaching and poisoning.

In December, an elephant in Nagarhole forest in Karnataka was found dead while crossing a tall fence. This happened a couple of months after `Rowdy Ranga’–another from the same forest range was mowed down by speeding bus on the highway criss-crossing the forest. Odisha saw about 65 ghastly elephant deaths in 2018, mainly due to poaching. One of them was an eight year old jumbo that chewed a bomb left by poachers in Rajanagar.

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Elephant, two calves fall into pond; rescued by forest dept

Madikeri, Mar 8: The Karnataka forest department officials with local people rescued two calves and an adult elephant which accident coffee estate pond in Chelavara village near Cheyyandane in the district on Thursday.

Forest department officials said on Friday that the residents who were saw trumpeting sounds found three elephants trapped in the pond used to water a coffee plantation owned by Pattacheravanda Vasu Subbaiah yesterday.

As the pond is deep, the jumbos, despite repeated attempts, could not come out.

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Elephant calf rescued in Kerala

KOCHI: An elephant calf, which accidentally fell into a 12-ft-deep well at
Manikandanchal near Kothamangalam in the early hours of Thursday, was
rescued by Kuttampuzha forest officials and residents.

The one-year-old elephant was rescued after a three-hour-long effort, said
a forest official.

"Though we were alerted by nearby residents, we could not reach the well
as the herd stood there till 8am. Later, when the herd moved to forest, we
dug one side of the well and created a sloppy path using a bulldozer and
the calf managed to come out around 11.30am. The calf, which suffered
minor injuries, was later sent back to the forest where it rejoined with the
herd," said Kuttampuzha forest range officer R Rajan.

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Man crushed by elephant while whipping it to get it to sit

A man was crushed to death by an elephant while hitting the animal and cleaning it.

Video published by multiple international outlets shows Arun Panikkar washing the elephant in India with a hose. The Mirror UK reports he hit the elephant with a stick in an attempt to get it to sit down so he could clean the top of the massive animal. He then appears to slip on the wet ground, and then the elephant sits on him, crushing him to death.

Another man who was nearby ran over and tried to get the elephant to move off Panikkar, but couldn't get it to budge. Eventually, he used a stick to get the elephant to stand up and then pulled Panikkar out from underneath.

You can watch a blurred version of the video by clicking here. Even blurred, it may be difficult to watch and viewer discretion is advised.

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Mahout's son dies after being attacked by Topslip camp elephant - Times of India

A 27-year-old man, who had been staying at
the settlement near the elephant camp at
Kozhikamudhi near Topslip, died early on Thursday morning
in Coimb...

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