Bhubaneswar: Following the shocking death of several elephants in Odisha in different mishaps recently, authorities seem to have finally woken up to the crisis and deal with the situation. According to a report, the authorities are mulling to use elephant rescue vehicles with crane and tranquilisation facilities to rescue elephants in case of any mishap.
These special vehicles would be procured from West Bengal and they would be used to rescue trapped and stranded elephants, informed Chief Wildlife Warden Sandeep Tripathy Tuesday. Likewise, two more vehicles will be procured to rescue the carnivorous and herbivorous animals.
This apart, the Forest department has also submitted a proposal to the state government to increase the compensation amount to animal attack victims and their kin from the present Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
As per data released by Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO), 67 elephants died in the state in the past nine months. Out of them, 18 elephants died due to natural causes, 19 due to unknown reasons, four were killed by poachers, nine were electrocuted, 11 were killed by sagging power lines and six elephants were mowed down by trains.
These deaths were reported between April 1, 2018 and December 18, 2018. A total of 435 elephants have met untimely death in Odisha between 2011 and 2017.