Jose K Joseph
Bhubaneswar: With top officials waiting for an expert report on the new corridors used by wild elephants, the 14 identified elephant corridors in the state have been awaiting an official notification for the past seven years.
This delay in issuing the official notification has resulted in fragmentation of existing elephant corridors and in the degradation of elephant habitats. It has also pushed jumbos out of the wild and increased human-elephant conflict in the state.
Thus, the state is witnessing wild elephants at places where people have never spotted them earlier. In the last five years, 396 people were killed by wild elephants. In fact, official figures collected from the State Forest Department show an increase in elephant mortality rate.
According to an official document, Orissa has lost 435 jumbos due to various reasons in the last five years. Meanwhile, leading wildlife experts claimed that the actual elephant mortality figures are much higher than the official figures.
“The official notification on identified corridors has been pending for a long time and efforts must be made to protect these corridors. Several factors like poaching, poisoning and deliberate electrocution are some of the reasons for the increasing elephant mortality rate and the lukewarm official approach to the notification of corridors will increase elephant mortality and human-elephant conflict in the state,” said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO).
Some wildlife experts also pointed out the need for more awareness in dealing with human-animal conflicts and immediate release of compensation for victims.
“In many cases, wild animal conflicts are experienced by poor people like farmers, and a delay in awarding compensation worsens the scenario. Therefore, steps must be taken to ensure timebound release of compensation for wildlife victims. Otherwise, people will resort to poisoning and electrocution of animals,” said Biplab Mahapatra, a wildlife expert.
Currently, on an average, 18 to 20 adult and breeding elephants are getting killed, and at this rate the number of breeding elephants may come down to less than 50 in the next four years.
Interestingly, according to official data, diseases also claimed the life of about 125 elephants in the last five years. Meanwhile, the Forest Department has failed to identify the exact cause behind the death of 85 jumbos in the wild. In fact, these deaths are currently recorded as ‘RNK’ or Reason Not Known. Explaining the reasons, sources told Orissa POST that if carcasses were identified very late, ascertaining the cause of death would be difficult. That could have been the reason for RNK.
But, a further delay in notification and in the protection of elephant corridors would increase elephant mortality rate in the state. “Fforest officials need to put in more efforts for preventing development activities near elephant corridors and forest areas. Similarly, efforts must also be made to make our forests sustainable. Sufficient food and water will keep animals within the forest and will decrease wildlife conflicts,” said eminent environmentalist Sunder Narayan Patro.
Meanwhile, top officials confirmed that a decision will be taken after getting the expert report. “We have engaged expert Kishor Choudhary to identify the new corridors and the department will take the decision after getting his report,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Sandeep Tripathy said. PNN
