2 female elephants electrocuted in Assam

Third case of death due to illegal electrical fencing this year

Photo for representational purposes.

Two adult female elephants were electrocuted in north-western Assam’s Baksa district on Friday night.

Officials said the incident happened in the Koroibari area near the Batabari Forest Range in the district, where frequent man-animal conflicts have been reported.

The elephants had come into contact with a live electric fence installed around a paddy field. The accused, identified as Hareswar Daimary surrendered at the Singra police station. Officials said he will be taken into custody for further investigation and booked under the Wildlife Protection Act.

Forest officials said the elephants had come down from the hills of adjoining Bhutan for food. A person was killed and another injured in a man-animal conflict in the district nearby on Thursday.

“This is the third instance of electrocution of elephants this year. We lost 13 elephants because of illegal electric fences installed by people to protect their crops,” a senior wildlife official said.

From 2011 to 2019, a total of 90 elephants have been electrocuted in Assam. Poisoning and natural calamities are also causes of death of elephants in the State. According to a Forest Department report, lightning had

killed 18 elephants in central Assam’s Nagaon district in May this year.