Video Of Elephant Trying To Wake Up Its Calf Who Died Of Electrocution Will Leave You In Tears
A male elephant cub said to be aged around 3 years old was found dead in Malampuzha in the Walayar forest range in Kerala's Palakkad district.
The body of the elephant was found by locals from an estate on Tuesday morning, who informed the Forest Authorities.
The cub which was part of a herd that had strayed into the plantation died of electrocution after it accidentally bit a powerline connected to a borewell in the area.
When locals arrived at the scene of the accident, three other wild elephants were standing guard for the body and one of them, the mother of the electrocuted was seen pushing the carcass, trying to make it move.
The herd was staying put and the Forest authorities had to chase them into the forest to take the body for autopsy.
According to local media reports, the land where the body was found was leased out to a plantation by the Sree Emoor Bhagavathy Temple.
What happened?
Locals alleged that elephant herds entering plantations in nearby areas and destroying crops there are a regular occurrence and added that the Forest Department, has failed to control the animals despite several complaints.
In the past few years, there have also been several incidents in the area in which humans were attacked and even killed by wild elephants.
Incidents on the rise
Elephant deaths due to electrocution have been on the rise, especially in the peripheries of forests.
In August, in a similar incident, a female elephant, estimated to be around 45 years old, was found dead, near a tribal colony in Chinnakanal of Idukki district.
The elephant died of electrocution from a solar fence that was put in place to prevent jumbos from entering agricultural land.
But someone had illegally connected a high-tension lite to the fence, resulting in the tragic death of the elephant.
Human-animal conflict
This, however, is not an issue limited to Kerala, but across India, as human-animal conflict increases elephant deaths from electrocution are also on the rise.
In August this year, two cases of elephant electrocutions were reported from the Bitherkad forest range in Tamil Nadu. In both cases, the deaths were from illegally erected electric fences.
Odisha has seen at least six cases of elephant electrocutions between April and July this year. This included deaths from accident contact with low-lying or snapped powerlines and electric snares used by poachers.
In the past one-and-a-half years till October, West Bengal has seen 14 cases of elephant electrocutions and a total of 34 in the past one decade.
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