The Assam government has ordered an enquiry by the chief wildlife warden to ascertain the cause of death of at least four wild elephants, which were suspected to have been poisoned by villagers in the past two weeks in Assam.
The enquiry has been ordered after Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh asked Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi to probe the incident and suggested strict measure to punish the guilty.
The state forest department, which was ignoring the death of elephants, however admitted that such incidents have become very common in Assam.
Two calves were found dead at the Daffolu tea garden close to Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary on October 7. It was followed by another incident on October 11 when body of a pregnant elephant was found close to the outskirt of sanctuary. The mysterious death of elephant continued on October 12 when wildlife authorities recovered the body of forth elephant. The wildlife authorities pointed out that doctors have found that in all the cases, the elephants’ tongues had turned blue, indicating the use of poison. Though, they refused to say anything on record as the government has already ordered an enquiry.
Assam forest minister Rockybul Hussain also told reporters that preliminary investigations has indicated it to be a case of poisoning by villagers. “We are waiting for the forensic test reports before taking further action,” he added. In 2009, four elephants were poisoned to death by angry villagers after the animals entered human settlement. “The modus operandi of the recent deaths is similar to the 2009 case. It appears that poison was mixed in either country liquor or a mixture of jackfruit, sugarcane and other eatables,” said senior wildlife officials.
The wildlife activists say that it was due to shrinking forest cover and encroachment upon elephant corridors, which force the wild tuskers to stray into human settlement areas.
According to records, wild elephants have killed about 279 people in Assam since 2001, while 289 elephants have died during the period, many of them victims of retaliation. Moreover, a recent census of the forest department has also revealed that villagers in Assam have encroached upon more than 2,80,000 hectares of forest area.