Infection of the gastrointestinal tract due to contaminated water and consuming nutrient-less grass are the common causes of wild elephant deaths in Tamil Nadu, two wildlife experts have said.
B Ramakrishnan, assistant professor, Department of Wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam, and Sivasubramanian, Assistant professor of Department of Wildlife Biology Kongunadu Arts Arts and Science College, in Coimbatore found this out after studying post-mortem examination reports of 1,544 wild elephants that died in the last 28 years(1992 to 2019). According to their study, out of the 1544 elephant deaths, 636 happened due to GI tract infection.
"During the rainy season, wild animals get abundant grass and water. But during summer it's a challenging task for them, especially pachyderms. If wild elephants survive summer, they would be healthier and produce healthier generations," said Sivasubramanian.
"Wild elephant death is a part of population dynamics and need not be worried if the cause of the death is natural. We need to look at when the death of a particular age animal is dying unnaturally. But that is not happening now," he added.
Further, the two observed that the poaching of elephants has come down due to the efforts of both central and state governments. However, the electrocution of wild elephants is increasing, the team said. Thanking the Tamil Nadu forest department for helping them analyse the post-mortem data, Ramakrishnan said, "It's clearly seen after the implementation of Project Elephant in 1991, poaching has come down from 10 per cent (during 1980 to 1990) to 1 percent ( in the last two decades)."
"Out of 1544 deaths, 38 cases of poaching were found. This is because of the setting up of anti-poaching camps and anti-poaching sheds in vulnerable areas. This resulted in an increase in the population of bull elephants compared to the female population and now we can see elephant calves largely in a herd."
He added, "The biggest threat to the gentle giants now is electrocution as 152 elephants died due to electrocution where it was only one per cent (of the 1544) during 1980s 1990s. Wherever there is human-elephant conflict, electrocution is occurring. The reason is elephants have been found roaming in new areas due to an increase in population since they require grass and water throughout the day. However, we could not predict where the elephants are moving now. The state government should come out with policies to mark areas prone to elephant electrocution as high conflict, medium conflict, and low conflict."
"A database of what type of fencing was used and how long it was there, owner of the land, and past electrocution incidents etc should be maintained. This is currently lacking and the Tamil Nadu forest department should take serious note of it and take a decision," Ramakrishnan added.
Supriya Sahu Additional Chief Secretary Environment, Climate Change and Forest Department told TNIE that she has not received the recommendation from the team but said Tamil Nadu is doing its best to ensure a safe future for elephants.
"From notifying the new Agasthiyamalai elephant sanctuary, to the removal of invasive species from our forests, to bringing in place India's first Elephant Death Audit Framework, we are not leaving any stone unturned. Electrocution is a big challenge and it should never be a cause of elephant deaths. This area needs long-term measures. We are in the process of notifying the solar-powered fencing Rules. Intense patrolling is also being done by the field teams," said Supriya Sahu.