Assam: Wild jumbo electrocuted to death in Baksa

A wild elephant was electrocuted to death at Pub Goibari near Bogamati in Baksa district in Assam on July 20^th, 2020. The area falls in the Indo-Bhutan border.

Locals witnessed the elephant first and then informed the forest officials. Later, the forest officials and Suagpur police reached the police. It may be mentioned that the area witnessed another death of an elephant in 2019.

The man-elephant conflict has been a major concern across the country. In the last five years, from 2014-15 to 2018-19, 2,381 human deaths were recorded in elephant attacks across the country, of which 1,132 (48%) fatalities were from these three States, as per the data tabled in the Rajya Sabha. West Bengal had the highest number of human casualties: 403, followed by Odisha with 397 and Assam with 332 deaths.

Also read: Tripura introduces high-tech gadgets to prevent rising man-elephant conflict

When it comes to unnatural deaths of elephants (mainly due to poaching, train accidents, electrocution and poisoning), the country recorded 490 deaths in the same period (2014-15 to 2018-19). Of these, 259 (53%) occurred in these three States alone. The figures were tabled in the Rajya Sabha on February 10, in response to a question by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Majoj Kumar Jha.

Interestingly, these three States are home to just about 31% of the total population of all elephants in India. The last synchronised elephant survey in the country in 2017, had given a figure of 27,312 elephants — of which Assam had recorded 5,719 elephants, Odisha 1,976 and West Bengal 642.

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