Even though there has been a steady rise in human-animal conflict within the State, the majority of elephant deaths were due to electrocution, rather than incidents involving trains or poaching. In the last five years, as many as 25 elephants were electrocuted in the State followed by six fatalities after being hit by speeding trains, two cases of poaching and one instance of poisoning.
At the national level, electrocution was one of the major causes of elephant deaths, with 100 electrocuted in 2022-23 alone, the highest in last five years. Odisha led the chart with 26 deaths, followed by Karnataka with 15 deaths and Tamil Nadu with 14 deaths. Out of the 15 elephant deaths due to train hits recorded in the last year, seven were reported from Assam, followed by three deaths in Odisha and two in Kerala. While the country lost 14 elephants due to poaching, there were only four deaths due to poisoning during this period.
In Kerala, elephants face a greater risk of death from electrocution than due to train accidents, poaching, and poisoning put together. The majority of human-induced elephant deaths caused by electrocution could be termed ‘retaliatory killing’ by residents who live close to the forest fringe areas, said M.N. Jayachandran, a former member of the Kerala State Animal Welfare Board.
Illegal power fences
Instead of using legally permitted power-fencing with a battery-powered energiser (12 volts DC) of the prescribed standards, the farmers used to power the illegal power fences with direct AC from the transmission lines. This is the main reason for the high number of elephant causalities due to electrocution in the State. Since the issue has various dimensions, often the cases registered by the Forest department does not reach anywhere with the intervention of political parties, said N. Badusha, wildlife activist and president, Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi.
“We cannot prevent the elephants from reaching human habitations and farmlands as long as the fragmentation and degradation of forests continue. There should be a long-term holistic approach to protecting the habitations of wild animals, like protecting grasslands and ensuring enough fodder and drinking water inside the forest, which is the key to preventing damage or loss of human life and elephants,” said Mr. Badusha.
