Electrocution Of 3 Elephants Near 2 Reserves Shows How Careless We Are About Their Conservation

Elephants or any other protected species are supposed to be at their safest at national parks and other protected areas which are areas specially designated for them.

But, increasing incidents of poachings, reduction of area, and other human activities have proven that the wild animals are no longer safe in even their designated homes.

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The death of two makhana elephants due to electrocution inside the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on the outskirts of Bengaluru city a few days ago once again shows how unsafe humans have made their homes into.

(Makhana Elephants are male elephants which do not have tusks)

Elephants aged 8-10 years

The two elephants aged about eight to ten years were found dead inside a waterbody in the Anchigulli village, adjoining Kodihalli range of the Bannerghatta National Park.

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Initial reports suggest that the elephants had come into contact with a high-tension power supply line that was passing through the area.

"Nearby lake's bund 11kv high tension cables laid by Bengaluru Electric Supply Company runs through. It is found that two poles are tilted towards the water body. Maybe when these jumbos came here to drink water came in contact with live wire and died on the spot," Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Ajay Mishra told IANS.

BNP's Deputy Conservator of Forest Prashant Sankimath said that the preliminary investigations revealed that these male makhana jumbos had come in contact with a live wire that was submerged in the lake.

Reduction of the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) a concern

This comes at a time when there is growing concerns about the reduction of the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of the Bannerghatta National Park, which will further push the animals there into potentially hazardous exposures.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had approved the reduction of the ESZ of the BNP by around 100 sq km, against the opposition of environmentalists and wildlife conservationists.

It is not just in BNP, jumbos are facing the threat of electrocution.

In a separate incident from the state on Tuesday, an elephant, believed to be aged around 16 years was electrocuted from a live fence of a tomato farm near the Bandipur National Tiger Reserve.

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In fact, electrocution from snapped or snagged power lines and illegal wildlife fences by farmers to keep wild animals away from farms is one of the biggest killers of wild elephants in India.

Between 2009 and 2017 a total of 461 elephant have died due to electrocution in the country.

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Last year, the Odisha government had told the assembly that the state had lost 119 elephants to electrocution in the past 10 years.

In Assam, the same period has seen close to a hundred elephant death from electrocution while Chhattisgarh has recorded around 50 such deaths.