Another jumbo found dead under Athagarh forest division

At a time the unabated death of elephants in Odisha has triggered an outrage among animal lovers, another tusker was found dead in Athagarh forest division in Cuttack raising serious questions over the safety of jumbos in the area.

According to sources, the carcass of the elephant was found with injuries on its trunk in Nuataila cashew orchard. Though the tusks of the elephant are intact, the cause of the death is yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, Forest department officials have reached the spot and launched an investigation into the matter.

It is worthwhile to mention here that the Athagarh forest division is in the news for a quite long time for unabated elephant deaths in the region. Besides, the forest division recently hogged the headlines after a poacher allegedly died under Forest department custody.

Elephant Deaths in Odisha

According to Forest and Environment minister Pradip Kumar Amat, Odisha recorded 245 elephant deaths in the last three years between 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. 

The state witnessed highest 86 jumbo deaths in 2021 followed by 82 in 2019-20 and 77 in 2020-21 from 35 forest and wildlife divisions. 

Dhenkanal reported the highest 35 deaths during the three years period followed by Keonjhar (21) and Angul Satkosia wildlife divisions (12) and Athagarh (11) 

(Reported by Nilakantha Dora, OTV)