Browsing Tag

Narengi

Environment

Maneka Gandhi tells Army to act against elephant deaths in Assam, remove ‘dreadful spikes’

New Delhi: Days after a bed of six-inch long metal spikes installed by the Indian Army in Assam allegedly claimed the life of a male elephant, union minister Maneka Gandhi took up the issue with Army Chief Bipin Rawat and asked him to immediately remove the deadly spikes.
The spikes, laid down by the Army to prevent elephants around the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in Guwahati from entering the military installation adjacent to it, have allegedly caused at least two elephant deaths, and left several injured.
Taking strong exception to the Army’s installation of what she called “the dreadful spikes”, Maneka said, “Whoever in the Army has done this needs to be pulled up…The Army has no business of putting these lethal spikes in the middle of a forest.
“I have spoken to the commander-in-chief, and he told me he has no knowledge of this, and will take immediate action,” she told ThePrint Friday.
“We have less than 15,000 elephants left in this country, are we going to kill them all?” she said.
According to the 2017 census of elephants, there are 27,312 elephants in the country, which account for 55 per cent of the total elephant population in the world.
Gandhi not the only one to outrage
A month before the male elephant was found dead on 4 March — it reportedly succumbed to septicaemia caused by a wound in the leg — the forest department had warned the Army against the “cruel” measure, asking it to remove the spikes, which would endanger the lives of the “innocent animals”.
In a letter written on 28 December — a day after another elephant was injured — District Forest Officer (DFO), Pradipta Baruah said, “This type of cruel effort to keep the elephants at bay is definitely going to defeat the very spirit of wildlife protection and preservation.
“You are, therefore, requested to do away with this type of detrimental measures… and evolve to take recourse to a more compassionate method in tandem with the wildlife division in the true spirits of protecting the wildlife.”
According to the post-mortem report of the elephant, it had punctured wounds on its right hind leg and foreleg which officials in the forest department believe were caused due to the spikes.
“Several elephants have been injured in this area due to these spikes, and we have constantly maintained that the Army should remove them, but nothing has been done till now,” an official in the Guwahati wildlife division told ThePrint.
“The way to deal with man-animal conflict is not to put the lives of animals in jeopardy,” the official said.
Long-drawn problem in Assam
While man-animal conflict is a raging issue across several parts of the country, it is particularly stark in Assam, where 249 elephants and 761 people have died since 2010 owing to the problem.
Poaching, train-related accidents, poisoning and electrocution have all contributed to the dwindling elephant population in the region.
Additionally, the shrinking natural habitat of elephants compels them to stray into human habitation, thereby increasing the incidents of conflict.
According to environment ministry data, in the last five years, nearly 500 elephants have died in the country due to unnatural factors.
Out of the 490 deaths recorded since 2013, more than half the deaths — 267 — have occurred due to electrocution, followed by poaching (92), rail accidents (72), revenge killings (36) and poisoning (23).

News

Indian army’s iron spike to kill wild elephants in Assam

Beds of six-inch long iron spikes put up in an Army cantonment in Guwahati to keep wild elephants out may have been the reason for the death of at least one pachyderm this month and injuries to several others in the past, said forest officials who had flagged this “cruel effort to keep the elephants at bay” in December 2018.

According to records with the Guwahati wildlife division, the carcass of a 9-10 year, 1500-kg male elephant was found near a stream from the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in Guwahati on March 4.

The post-mortem report noted “externally there are various punctured wounds on right fore and hind legs.” The report said the wild elephant died of septicemia.

The Army’s cantonment in Narengi in Guwahati where the iron spikes have been in place since 2003 in the periphery of a major supply depot in its campus, borders the Amchang wildlife sanctuary home to at least 59 wild elephants, according to officials.

“The carcass was found close to the cantonment and the nature of the injury shows that the wound was caused by the spikes,” said Pradipta Baruah, Divisional Forest Officer, Guwahati.

“The foot pads of elephants are very sensitive,” said BK Gogoi, the forest veterinary officer, Zoo division, Guwahati. “The circumstantial evidence and the post mortem suggest that the injury was caused by those spikes. How can you put these spikes?” he said.

“This Army Base is bordering the wildlife sanctuary which is an elephant habitat, and they do venture into it frequently searching for food,” said Kaushik Baruah, a conservationist who serves as the Honorary Wildlife Warden, Guwahati.

Army officials living in the cantonment claim raids by elephants on army depots are routine and often in the evening herds of pachyderms are seen in the campus.

In December 2018, another elephant was injured by these spikes. Baruah said two elephants died of septicemia in 2018.

On December 27, 2018, after receiving a report from the local range officer, Baruah wrote a letter to the Colonel in-charge of administration, Narengi cantonment noting, “On December 25 at about 2 am one wild elephant injured at supply depot of Narengi Army Cantonment while the elephant cross the pointed iron spikes driven to the ground with the sharp points facing the sky fixed at supply depot by Army personnel.”

In the letter Baruah asked the Army to do away with these types of measures. “This type of cruel effort to keep the elephants at bay is definitely going to defeat the very spirit of wildlife protection and preservation,” he wrote.

The letter according to Baruah, led to a discussion between the Army officials, the forest officials, and experts from the WWF among others in January. Baruah said measures like solar fencing and trenches were suggested to the Army.

An army spokesperson in Guwahati denied any elephants getting killed and said “directions have been received recently to remove the spikes and measures suggested by WWF officials and forest officials have been disseminated to all individuals in the cantonment.”

The spokesperson said that the spikes have been there since 2003. “As far as we are aware, there has been only one instance of injury to an elephant in 2005,” the spokesperson said adding that the incident in 2005 led to the Army digging ditches and subsequently also using ultrasonic buzzers to keep the elephants out.

The spokesperson said “the spikes have been put in areas where operational materials are being stored and shortage of them will cause operational exigencies.” According to a defence source, the supply depots in Narengi store rations for the defence forces in the Northeast.

“It’s understood that the Army is trying to protect its installations but such barriers are detrimental to the survival of elephants in that area and there have been deaths due to septicemia which they got after injuries from these spike. They should take steps to remove these barriers,” said Kaushik Baruah.

“Apart from protecting the country, the Army also has the responsibility of preserving and protecting the wildlife,” he said.

In Assam, human-elephant conflict is a routine phenomenon. According to state government records recently placed in the Legislative Assembly 249 elephants were killed since 2010 which include 20 instances of poaching, 54 deaths in train accidents, 91 which were electrocuted, 38 died of accidental reasons, 30 were poisoned, and 15 died of injuries.  (Source: HT)