Thrissur: In view of the World Elephant Day which is being observed on Saturday, pro-animal organisation Heritage Animal Task Force based in Thrissur has called for proper investigation into the deaths of both wild and old elephants in the state. HATF secretary V.K. Venkitachalam on Friday said in a press meet that the death of both captive and wild elephants were not addressed seriously in India unlike in countries such as the US and the UK. He said the HAFT data collected from newspapers on a daily basis starting from August 12 last year till now says as many as 32 captive elephants and 179 wild elephants died last year.
“The forest area is reducing by the day while elephant passages in forests are being cut off,” he said. “Most number of wild elephants were electrocuted and most number of such deaths have been reported from Idukki and Wayanad were electric power is used on fencing instead of solar power.” Former head of Kerala Forest Research Institute in Peechi, Dr P.S. Easa, however, refused to believe the number of deaths and said it was not an official figure. He, however, said the unnatural deaths of elephants are a matter of concern and investigation to such deaths is of utmost importance. According to him, solar fencing was the best option to fend off wild elephants entering residential areas.
