The
New Indian Express: Coimbatore: Monday, 31 August 2015.
On an
average, more than six elephants die in the forests of Tamil Nadu due to
natural causes, poaching and electrocution. According to information obtained
under the Right to Information Act, 1,113 elephants have died between 2001 and
May 2015. Of this, 1,020 elephants died of natural causes, 65 due to
electrocution, and 28 were killed by poachers.
A maximum of
126 elephants died in the year 2013, followed by 95 in 2009 and 90 in 2014. The
information was obtained under RTI Act by MDMK youth wing secretary V Eswaran
from the forest department. Majority of the 28 poaching incidents happened in
western Tamil Nadu. A maximum of nine elephants was poached in Dharmapuri,
followed by six in Coimbatore, four each in Erode and Hosur, two in Mudumalai
Tiger Reserve and one each in Sathyamangalam, Nilgiris and Dindigul.
Out of the 65
electrocution deaths, 47 happened in the western part of Tamil Nadu. Notably,
13 elephants died in train and road accidents, including 11 in train accidents
(5 in Hosur on March 30, 2003; 3 in Coimbatore on February 4, 2008; 1 in
Coimbatore on July 17, 2009; 2 in Hosur on February 4, 2013) and two in road
accidents (1 in Sathyamangalam on January 27, 2012; 1 in Hosur on February 3,
2015).
Commenting on
the data, environmental activist K Mohan Raj said, “It’s quite a big number and
abnormal. Death of 1,113 elephants in over 14 years is a worrying sign.” He
also raised doubts whether elephants have a birth rate equal to their death
rate. “The main factor for such a high number of deaths of elephants is habitat
loss. In many cases, the forest department is not finding out the real cause of
death and simply tries to close the case as natural deaths. The forest
department does not have facilities or expertise to ascertain the real cause,”
he added.
“In many
cases, forest department personnel do not attend elephant death cases
immediately. They arrive at the spot only after the body of the elephant gets
decomposed and is in a mutilated state. Sometimes, they do not reveal the elephant
death and reveal two deaths in different location in a single day,” he alleged.
In the case
of leopards, 207 deaths were recorded between 2001 and February 2015 in Tamil
Nadu.
This includes
201 deaths due to natural causes, 5 due to poaching and 1 due to electrocution.
Similarly, 48
tigers have died between 2003 and May 2015, including 40 natural deaths, six
poaching or poisoning and two deaths due to gunshots, the query revealed.
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