Tusker electrocuted in Oodlabari

Jalpaiguri: A sub-adult

tusker

was electrocuted at Limboo Bustee in Turibari in Jalpaiguri’s Oodlabari on Saturday, the 13th such incident to be reported in the past year and a half.

The carcass was found on the bed of Gheesh river next to a paddy field. Burn marks on the trunk indicated electrocution, but the culprits are yet to be identified. “The area falls under Baikunthapur forest division and the DFO is conducting raids to nab the culprits,” said Rajendra Jakhar, chief conservator of forests, Northern Circle.

The forest department has been unable to prevent villagers in north Bengal from tapping electricity from high tension cables and laying electric traps for jumbos. To combat the problem, the forest department had held several meetings, but little has been achieved.

It is learnt the loner elephant had entered the river bank after straying out of Bhuttabari forest. “These days, culprits are also taking power from household connections. It’s our failure that we are not being able to sensitise people,” said Shyama Prasad Pandey of Society for Protecting Ophiofauna & Animal Rights.

Environmentalists blame it on the indiscriminate settlement of people around forests. “The behavioural change in elephants is a result of the continuous man-elephant conflict,” said Animesh Basu, a member of the state wildlife advisory board.