Elephants trampled 57 persons to death between April and June this year in Odisha — that is 50% higher number of deaths compared with corresponding figure last year. During the period from April to June, elephants spread out in forests as well as across human habitations in search of fruits like ripe mangoes, bael and jackfruit.
Incidentally, this year’s human deaths in human-elephant encounters are estimated to be the highest ever in the first quarter of the financial year in the past 10 years. In 2022, 38 human fatalities were reported from different districts during this period.
“The sharp rise suggests that, this year, the number of human kills could end up significantly more than the 146 human kills of last year,” Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), an environmental pressure group, said.
