Madhapur: In view of back-to-back deaths of elephants in Athamallik forest division of Angul district, the animals seem unsafe in the area.
In the last two months, three elephants were found dead in different areas under Athamallik forest division. In the latest case, Forest officials have recovered the decomposed carcass of an elephant in Ghodagadi Khera forest under Madhapur range, Friday.
The department has started an investigation into the incident.
On being informed about the incident, DFO S Anand, ACF Gourishankar Das, ranger Santosh Bhoi, forester Diptiranjan Biswal and other Forest officials rushed to the spot.
They started an investigation looking into the possible causes of the death of the elephant.
“It is a tusker that died some days back. Only one tusk is visible while the other is missing. What led to its death will be known only after the post mortem report is available,” said Forest officials.
It is suspected that the animals might be the victim of poachers as one of the tusks of the elephant was missing. Given the incident, it can’t be ruled that poaching activities have been going on in the forest division.
It may be noted here that with this casualty, this forest division has witnessed deaths of three elephants in the last two months.
On October 15, a tusker was found dead at Mundapada. However, the cause of its death is not yet known.
A female elephant was found dead October 28 at Shantipur. Forest officials had recovered the carcass and sent it for post mortem.
Repeated death of elephants in this division has raised a question mark on the safety of the animals and efficiency of the Forest officials deployed in this division.
Wildlife activists have expressed concern over frequent death of elephants in the forest division. They observed that the Forest department should take these back-to-back deaths of elephants seriously and tighten the vigil on the roaming animals.
On the other hand, many people have died due to elephant attacks in Athamallik forest division. As elephant mayhem continues, people in forest pockets are panicked. Locals have demanded intensified patrolling in the areas frequented by the elephants for safety of both the animals and the people.
PNN