Bodies Of 2 Elephants Recovered In Assam Forests, Electrocution Suspected

Guwahati:

Bodies of two wild elephants were recovered in two different places under the West Kamrup Divisional Forest area. Villagers from Pakharapara and nearby areas under the Singra Range Office in Boko found the bodies in a paddy field and later informed the state forest department.

“I got information about the body of an elephant in the Mouman reserve forest area. Therefore we immediately reached the incident site. The elephant was a male sub-adult and under 10 years old,” Ranger Hazarika said.

“Until now, we don’t know the cause of the elephant’s death. We called the state veterinary doctor for a post-mortem report and after the reports, we could determine the cause of the death,” he added.

Hazarika added, “Initially, as per our source’s information, the cause of the death of the elephant was electrocution, which is an illegal method used by some people to chase wild elephants and protect their farming.”

The state forest team found some materials used for electrocutions from the spot.

However, Ranger Hazarika further said that they had started an investigation into this matter and that if they found anything, they would take necessary action according to the Forest Act.

Meanwhile, animal rights activists raised concern over the incidents and said “In the Mouman Reserve forest area, there are many acres of forest land that have been encroached and the forest department should survey and take necessary action so that the man-elephant conflicts will decrease in the Pakharapara and nearby areas.”

A similar incident occurred in the Dhangargaon village area under the Kulshi Forest Range, the forest department found the body of a wild elephant in a paddy field.

According to the Ranger Kankan Jyoti Kaushik, the wild elephant was a male and around 25 years old. “As of now, we can’t say about the cause of death. However, we suspect the incident happened due to the electrocution.”

Singra and Kulshi Forest Ranges fall under the West Kamrup Divisional Forest Office.