Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO), a wildlife pressure group, on Friday, raised alarm over the rapid depletion of male elephants, critical for sustainability of healthy elephant population in Odisha.
Out of a total of 1,976 jumbos counted in 2017 elephant census, 344 were found to be adult males. “Since then, in a little over five years, Odisha has lost 104 male elephants over the age of 15, mostly to poaching and unnatural deaths like electrocution, poisoning, train and road accidents,” says WSO analysis.
Stating that for the health and sustainability of an elephant population, the presence of adult bull elephants, between the age of 18 and 20, is a necessity, WSO Secretary Biswajit Mohanty said, “On an average, we lose over 20 adult elephants per year. At this rate, we may see Odisha’s elephant population rapidly getting wiped out from many elephant landscapes. Some of the districts like Ganjam, Khurda, Kalahandi, Boudh and Subarnapur could already be facing such a situation.”
