Bhubaneswar: Odisha has reported the death of 888 elephants in the last 11 years, with the maximum number of 97 cases been registered in the current financial year till February, the state Assembly was informed Tuesday.
Diseases, accidents, poaching and electrocution were some of the reasons for elephant deaths in the state, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia said in response to a query from BJP legislator Prasanta Kumar Jagadev.
According to the statistics furnished by the minister, 158 elephants were electrocuted to death between 2014-15 and 2024-25 (till February, 2025) while poachers killed 33 pachyderms.
Similarly, 29 elephants perished after being hit by speeding trains, eight died in road accidents, two due to poisoning and 16 were killed in a pre-planned manner, he said.
The minister said that 143 elephants died in various incidents such as infighting, slipping down from mountains, falling into nullahs etc. during the period.
Diseases claimed the lives of the highest number of pachyderms (306) and natural reasons have been attributed for the death of 93 elephants.
The Forest and Environment Department could not ascertain the reason behind the death of 100 jumbos.
According to the minister’s statement, as many as 97 pachyderms died in 11 months of the current financial year, which was the highest in the last 11 years.
Odisha reported 92 elephant deaths each during 2022-23 and 2018-19, whereas 54 pachyderms died in 2014-15, the lowest in these 11 years.
Out of the 97 deaths reported during the current fiscal, 32 elephants were killed due to electrocution, three by poachers, 17 due to natural causes, 16 because of diseases, and three due to railway accidents, the minister said.
From April to February this financial year, 19 elephants were killed due to unknown reasons, while four other wild jumbos were killed in a planned manner, he added.
In his reply, the minister said 1,209 people were killed in elephant attacks during the period. The state government has been providing a compensation of Rs 6 lakh in case of death of a person in an attack by a wild elephant.
The state also provides compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre for loss of paddy and other cereal crops by elephants while Rs 25,000 is provided for loss of an acre of cash crop due to the jumbos, he added.
According to the latest elephant census conducted last year, 2,103 pachyderms were recorded in different forests of Odisha.
PTI
