Odisha records 57 deaths in human-elephant encounters from April to June

In 2022, 38 human fatalities were reported from different districts during this period.

This year’s deaths in human-elephant encounters are estimated to be the highest ever in the first quarter of the financial year in the past 10 years. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Elephants trampled 57 persons to death between April and June this year in Odisha — that is 50% higher number of deaths compared with corresponding figure last year. During the period from April to June, elephants spread out in forests as well as across human habitations in search of fruits like ripe mangoes, bael and jackfruit.

Incidentally, this year’s human deaths in human-elephant encounters are estimated to be the highest ever in the first quarter of the financial year in the past 10 years. In 2022, 38 human fatalities were reported from different districts during this period.

“The sharp rise suggests that, this year, the number of human kills could end up significantly more than the 146 human kills of last year,” Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), an environmental pressure group, said.  

“The annual human kills have consistently crossed triple figures during the past four years, busting the government’s claim that they are engaging and investing in more resources to control human elephant conflict,” Mr. Mohanty said.

He attributed the incidents of elephants straying out of their habitats to the huge levels of disturbance caused by quarries and crushers, and the night movement of trucks and tractors. “There is also a lack of adequate forest fodder and a marked shift towards consumption of farms crops and food grains stored inside villages,” Mr. Mohanty said.

The WSO analysis points out that the 57 human fatalities quarter (April to June 2023) included 14 in mango orchards, three in cashew plantations, seven when people went out to relieve themselves, seven during village raids, three during crop raids, and, eight when people ventured into forests to collect firewood, kendu, sal leaves, mahua fruits and mushrooms.

“The worst hit district in human-elephant conflict was Dhenkanal, which witnessed 14 human kills, followed by Angul — 13, Keonjhar — 8, Mayurbhanj — 5 , Sambalpur — 5, Sundargarh — 2 , and, Cuttack — 2,” the group said.

The WSO found that palm fruits, which are the elephants’ prime source of food during June and July, had become scarce due to massive felling of palm trees. Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh districts have lost thousands of palm trees in the last three years as organised timber traders camp there and decimate the trees for inter-State trade with Tamil Nadu.

“Odisha happens to have the dubious record of more number of human kills among all other States despite an elephant population of 1,976 elephants compared with Karnataka — 6,049, Assam — 5,719, Kerala — 3,054, and Tamil Nadu — 2,761 as per the last national level census carried out in August 2017,” the WSO says. 

According to a reply furnished by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in Parliament, in the past three years, 1,579 humans were killed and Odisha had topped with 322 human kills, followed by Jharkhand — 291, West Bengal — 240, Assam — 229, Chhattisgarh — 183, and Tamil Nadu — 152.