God help Odisha jumbos: State witnesses yet another elephant’s death

There seems to be no end to the death of elephants in the State. Another elephant has been found dead at Satkosia Kusakhali forest in Angul district on Tuesday and as yet, there is no clear cause of death. In short, it can be said that poachers are having a field day in the State. 

At a time when poachers are killing pachyderms with impunity, the State government seems to have done precious little for the safety of the elephants. As a result, elephants are being shot by poachers in broad daylight. Some elephants have been gunned down while some had to face wrath of villagers after entering human habitats.  

The State has witnessed the death of two elephants in the last two days which has become a concern for animal lovers. On Monday, the skeleton of an elephant was unearthed from the Gopapura forest range, Mandap Reserve forest in Badamba. Soon after the incident, the death of another ailing elephant at Satakosia sanctuary came to the fore.  According to DFO, the pachyderm died while undergoing treatment.

Police have meanwhile arrested three persons in connection with the recovery of skeletal remains of the elephant near the village Satyajayapura under Jilinda range of Satkosia on Friday night. Besides, Satkosia wildlife authorities suspended two foresters for dereliction of duty.

On Monday, skeleton of another elephant was found in Cuttack Badamba Forest area. It is learnt that the elephant skeleton recovered from Gopapura forest range under Mandap Reserve forest in Badamba was exhumed by the Special Task Force (STF) which is a part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into discovery of elephant carcass in Narasinghpur – Badamba forest range.

A few days back, a bullet-shot elephant was found writhing in pain and the animal later succumbed to injuries despite forest officials’ rigorous attempts to save the pachyderm. Similarly, another elephant that was shot at by poachers died while undergoing treatment in Sambalpur.