22 elephant deaths in a year

BARIPADA: At least 22 elephants have been poached in the Similipal Tiger Reserve in the last one year, with three deaths due to poisoning coming to light in Ektalia forests under Karanjia forest division on Friday. This has exposed the absence of vigilant patrolling and protection measures for the wild animals here. The crisis has only deepened after the 2009 Maoist attack in the STR. Regional Conservator of Forests Anup Kumar Nayak cited lack of patrolling inside the forested areas for fear of Maoists as the reason for the recurring elephant deaths. “No forest guard was willing to go inside the buffer zone after the Maoist attack in 2009. Though we are arranging protection camps, those are insufficient as we lack manpower. We have to manage with around 40 per cent less forest personnel,” he pointed out. Of the 22 jumbos killed in a year, five are tuskers and have all been killed by poachers for ivory, underlining the threat to the wild animals from organised poaching rackets. A series of deaths of 10 jumbos in June last year, followed by four  in October, three in March this year and three more a day back left the wildlife officials shocked. In Friday’s incident, though official sources claimed that they had spotted carcasses of three elephants, unofficial sources put the number of deaths at five, including a tusker. Nayak said a team sent to investigate the three deaths reported that the three female elephants were poisoned. “There was no tusker in the herd and it is suspected that local people might have poisoned the pachyderms to prevent them from entering their fields,” he said. The visceras have been sent for tests to ascertain the exact cause of death.  Meanwhile, it is learnt that a well-organised poaching racket is operating in Similipal with the help of local hunters. The poachers use deadly poisons like aconite to kill elephants and also mix agricultural poisons in soil to kill the jumbos. Similipal Tiger Protection Force (STPF) president Vanoo Mitra Acharya said though 22 elephants had been killed in a year not a single poacher has been arrested in this connection till now. “It is ridiculous that there has been no investigation on this front and with the forest officials going toothless, the poachers take the advantage of it,” he claimed.  Wildlife activists said all the pending cases of elephant poaching should be properly investigated and the accused prosecuted to stop the killings. They have demanded fixing responsibility on the forest officials posted in Similipal to ensure that they be more vigilant.