‘Jumbos kill more people than Maoists’
GOVT DATA Wildlife experts blame food shortage, human interference for rise in manelephant conflicts in Jharkhand
‘Unarmed’ jumbos have prevailed over ‘ well armed’ Leftwing extremists (LWE) when it comes to killing civilians in Jharkhand, comparative figures on the number of people killed by the menacing pachyderms and the violent Maoists in the past two years reveal.
Strangely, as per the figures acquired from officials sources, jumbos killed more people than the Maoists in 2015 and are a close second to the rebels in 2016-17.
As per government records, Jharkhand elephants killed 66 people in 2015-16 while 57 died in attacks by Maoists. In 2016-17, Maoists claimed 61 lives while the pachyderms killed 42 up to February 28, 2017. Forest officials claimed that the final figure for people killed by wild elephants till March 31, which is still being calculated, might cross 50.
Even as killing of civilians due to Maoist violence has declined drastically in the past three years, man-elephant conflict is unabated across Jharkhand.
The tribal state has lost 1,768 civilians in Maoist violence as well as man-elephant conflict. Of the total, 589 people were killed by wild elephants.
As per Jharkhand police record, civilians killed in Maoist violence remained in three digits since 2007 till 2013. The state had witnessed highest numbers of civilian killings at Maoist hands in 2007 when 175 people were killed. The lowest number was recorded in 2015 with 47 civilian deaths. Jharkhand police spokesperson Ashish Batra said, “More development activities in remote rural Jharkhand, police’s better reach to villages, state’s surrender policy and awareness programmes in rural areas have helped to reduce civilian casualties and weakened Left-wing extremism.”
On the other hand, man-elephant conflicts have increased in the recent past.
Jharkhand elephants killed an average of 59 people every year in the past decade. The highest casualty was recorded in 2010-11 when 69 people lost their lives in attacks by elephants.
According to the previous elephant census, Jharkhand has 688 elephants, which is 2.30% of country’s elephant population. The casualty among humans due to wild attacks is around 20% of all India deaths annually.
Ranchi, Khunti, Simdega, Gumla, Lohardaga, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Hazaribag Giridih, Latehar, Palamu and Chatra are considered to be the most vulnerable districts in terms of man-animal conflicts.
Wildlife experts blamed shortage of forest food, disturbance on movement routes, especially due to mining activities, increasing human interference and degradation of habitat etc, for rise in man-elephant conflicts.
Former steering committee member of elephant project, DS Srivastava, said, “The scarcity of food for elephants like bamboo, kajhi and khair in Jharkhand’s forest have forced them to enter villages, causing man-elephant conflict and crop damage.”
Citing another reason, Srivastava said, “Herds are surprised and panicked by humans who use ear-piercing sounds, explosions and blinding light to scare them away from habitations. That confuses them and force them into crop acres and into hamlets, destroying property.
To curb the conflicts, Srivastava suggested implementation of elephant action plan in Jharkhand, recruitment of field staff, formation of elephant squad and conducting study on traditional elephant migrant routes.
LR Singh, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), said the Union ministry of forest had in January set up a committee comprising five elephant-hit states — Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chattisgarh and Bihar — to reduce man-elephant conflicts. “First meeting of committee was held in last February and we discussed ways to share information about elephant movement and factors,” Singh said.