Odisha officials charged with hiding elephant deaths, Centre seeks report
Debabrata Mohanty
BHUBANESWAR: The environment ministry on Wednesday sought a report from the Odisha government on deaths of elephants, including those cause by poaching in the state. Some of these deaths were allegedly concealed by the state forest department.
Environment minister Bhupendra Yadav tweeted that his ministry has sought a report from the Odisha government on elephant poaching incidents in the state. Later, the Project Elephant division of his ministry said in a letter to the state government that strict action under the Wildlife Protection Act should be taken against those involved in the killings.
“My ministry has taken cognisance of the incidents and the matter has been taken up with the state government for strict action against the poachers to ensure protection of our wildlife heritage,” Yadav tweeted.
He was responding to a tweet by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the death of a wounded elephant who was shot by suspected poachers in Athagarh forest range a few weeks ago.
On Wednesday, the tusker who was shot by people believed to be poachers three weeks ago in Narasinghpur range of Athgarh forest division, succumbed to injuries. The 10-year-old tusker had gunshot injuries at five to six places on its body and was found writhing in pain near a rivulet in Narasinghpur east range of the forest division on
June 7.
“The death of a wounded tusker… is distressing for all wildlife enthusiasts. This is not just a one-off incident in Odisha. According to media reports, around 947 elephants have died due to poaching, poisoning, electrocution and accidents in the last 12 years in Odisha,” Pradhan tweeted. The education minister, who hails from Odisha, was highlighting the bigger wildlife crisis in the state, where the bodies of at least 10 elephants were found buried in different forest ranges of the state since September last year.
On Wednesday, skeletal remains of an elephant were found inside Athagarh forest range in Odisha, the third this month, amid allegations that the forest department was concealing elephant deaths.
Odisha forest minister Pradip Amat and chief wildlife warden Shashi Paul did not respond to HT’S calls and messages on the matter.
Athagarh divisional forest officer Sudarshan Gopinath
Yadav said investigations have begun to find out how the elephant died and why the staff responsible for keeping an eye on the elephants were clueless.
The incident came a day after an ailing tusker in the same forest division died after suffering multiple pellet wounds three weeks ago.
On June 2 and 3, the special task force (STF) of Odisha police found bones and exhumed carcasses of two other elephants from Athagarh forest range. The elephants had died due to electrocution and their bodies were buried to conceal their deaths, regional chief conservator of forest M Jogajayananda said.
Last month, the department found that local foresters tried to hide the graveyard of two elephants with a new-constructed road in the Boudh forest division. Wildlife activist and elephant conservationist Biswajit Mohanty said though it is difficult to conceal an elephant death, the Odisha forest department appears to have mastered the art.