Female elephant ‘electrocuted’ in Deogarh

Deogarh: On Thursday, a female elephant was discovered dead near Khilaberini hamlet in the Reamal forest region of Odisha's Deogarh district.

Locals saw the carcass in an orange orchard and alerted forest officials, according to sources.

According to preliminary findings, the pachyderm may have died after coming into touch with a live wire.

On Tuesday, the Orissa High Court declared 2022 to be the worst possible year for elephants in Odisha's woods, expressing worry about the concealment of elephant poaching and the burning of its carcass by three forest officers in Mayurbhanj's Similipal Tiger Reserve.

According to data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, over 400 elephants died in Odisha's woods in the last five years as a result of sickness, accidents, and electrocution, with disease accounting for over a fifth of those deaths.

It was also determined that "deliberate actions" of electrocution by poachers were responsible for more than half of the 61 deaths.

The Odisha government has established three elephant reserves - Mayurbhanj, Mahanadi, and Sambalpur - totaling 8,508.95 square kilometers for elephant protection and conservation. It has also built five elephant corridors to facilitate the migration of elephant herds.

Railway authorities have also demanded the construction of overpasses and underpasses necessary for the passage of elephants in order to prevent their deaths as a result of train accidents.

Notably, elephants (344 male, 1,092 female, 38 unknown sex, and 502 young) were found in at least 38 of the state's total 50 forest and wildlife divisions in the 2017 census.