By Prasanta Kumar Dash
Bhubaneswar, Nov 5: Forest areas in Odisha fall short for elephants that pose threats before the pachyderm population, said Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, Susanta Nanda on Tuesday.
Amid a frantic quest to study the prime causes behind elephants’ death, Nanda said the depleting forest resources across the state in compaison with the growing number of elephants lack adequate space to accommodate the jumbo herbivorous animal for its normal inhabitation.
It’s why at least 400 elephants are straying in and around the human habitats and wreaking huge scale of devasation in villages, he said.
Citing a study conducted by the Elephant Centre of the Indian Institute of Science (IIS) at Bengaluru, the PCCF said the forests of the state have space to accommodate a maximum number of around 1700 elephants. However, Odisha has over 2,100 elephants as on the recent census.
The immunity power and resistance among the elephants against diseases and fatal infections also dropped in many ways due to scarcity of green food, causing death of many calves and ailing jumbos.
Apart from it, more elephants are getting immatured and untimely death due to electrocution and train accidents, Nanda added.
