Tuesday 6 November 2012

India: Nearly 300 elephant deaths in Orissa


Nearly 300 wild elephants have died in India's Orissa state in the past five years, the state's forest and environment minister has said.
Most of these deaths were caused by accidental electrocution, Bijayshree Routray told Press Trust of India news agency.
Over a third of the elephants were killed by electric shock and hanging electricity wires, he said.
There are around 26,000 wild elephants in India where it is a heritage animal.
"The government has set up a joint committee to monitor elephant deaths," Orissa's Forest and Environment Secretary RK Sharma said.
It will include members from both the forest and environment and energy departments to try and stop the deaths of elephants from accidental electrocutions.
Other causes for the deaths of the jumbos included poaching, poisoning by farmers to prevent them from damaging crops and being run over by trains.
While elephants are worshipped by many in India, shrinking habitat has led to increased conflict with people and the deaths of many of the protected animals.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis