Two more elephants found dead; 7 carcasses in two weeks
19 Jun 2020 10:39:55
Staff Reporter :
RAIPUR,
One more elephant was found dead at village Behramar of Chhal Range in Dharamjaigarh, taking the death toll to 6, all have been found dead in the past two weeks in Chhattisgarh. The male elephant identified as Ganesha was electrocuted to death while he was having jackfruits. Police arrested one local Patiram from the village for setting up the electric trap using bare cables, which were traced down from his home. According to the information, the signs of electrocution appeared when the carcass of elephant was turned over using a crane. Forest staffers used sniffer dogs to trace the accused who had set the electric trap near jackfruit tree, where Ganesha often visited to eat the fruit.
However, Forest Department Officials said that it was not Ganesha but some different elephant. In addition to these six, a carcass of one bull elephant was found at Karanjwar, 4 kilometres from Pratappur Range Headquarter on May 11.
The carcass had completely dried up, which suggested the giant pachyderm was estimated to have died around one and a half month ago. The bull elephant’s carcass was missing tusks and it was buried after the post-mortem. Even as Chhattisgarh Forest Department has yet to ascertain the cause of deaths of three female elephants, the death of one more has further piled up misery on the investigators. Loner Ganesha was reportedly roaming around the area for many days. He was spotted on the periphery of village Behramar the night before morning when villagers found his carcass around hundred meters away from the rear of the village. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife Atul Shukla told The Hitavada that he conducted spot inspection and ordered an investigation.
All senior field officers were on the spot and two elephant specialists from Bengaluru Chhattisgarh Forest Department Veterinarian Dr Rakesh Varma also probed the carcass. PCCF assured of strictest actions on the culprits. Even the Forest Department officials/employees will be taken to task if found guilty. The chronology of the dreadful findings starts on June 6, when the carcass of cow elephant was found in Surajpur Division. She was suspected to have died of internal bleeding. Another female elephant had died on the same day. The third one was poisoned to death at Surajpur Division and the carcass was recovered on June 11. Five days later, an elephant calf died after miring into the mud in Dhamtari Division on June 11. Another elephant was found dead in Dharamjaigarh of electrocution, in which two farmers and three Power Distribution Company staffers were arrested.
There are also reports of sheer disobedience or dereliction in duty by field officers who got plum postings due to external influence. These field officers then openly disobey the orders from senior officials. It’s to be noted that PCCF Wildlife had written eight letters regarding to his subordinates, but no one replied. There is underlying discontent in Indian Forest Service (IFS) Officers on posting of promotees or attached officers at the helm of affairs Division-level. In the Balrampur case, a Sub-Divisional Forest Officer, rangers and one assistant were suspended while the DFO got away with just a show-cause notice. Worse yet, when a retired officer suggested the killing of problematic elephants in a workshop by overdosing of anaesthetics last year whereas the original topic of the workshop was the conservation of elephants. Accepting the fact that recovery of big cat hides indicates towards increased poaching activities in Chhattisgarh, Forest Secretary Jai Singh Mhaskey told The Hitavada Government has given elaborate guidelines for curbing hunting/poaching of wild animals and illegal felling of trees to the Forest Department. bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb Union Govt to send expert team to investigate deaths After back-to-back deaths of six elephants, the Union Government is sending a team of elephant experts to investigate the cases on Saturday. The 3-member Central Team is arriving on the request of Chhattisgarh Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife Atul Shukla. Notably, two experts from Bengaluru are already working in the case. Noyal Thomas, Inspector General of Forest, Government of India accepted the request of PCCF Shukla. Thomas told PCCF that the team will be arriving in Raipur on Saturday. Earlier the team was proposed to investigate the area for two days, but since the area is too large to be covered in two days, the investigation period will now last for a week.