2020-10-05 - Kolkata, India. Sanjoy Dey and Joydeep Thakur
The Union environment ministry has proposed an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to accord legal status to elephant reserves and corridors on the lines of tiger reserves. The ministry has sought responses from 10 elephant range state governments in south, east, north-west India on the proposed amendment and measures to mitigate human-animal conflict to prepare a comprehensive national elephant action plan, said environment ministry forest department officials of multiple states.
2020-09-28 - Kolkata, India. Sanjoy Dey and Joydeep Thakur
The Union environment ministry has proposed an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act to protect elephant reserves and corridors on the lines of those of the tiger and sought responses of states to a proposed Comprehensive National Elephant Action Plan (NEAP), officials aware of the matter said. State forest departments have been asked to come up with management plans and provide forest staff and strategies to protect elephants
2020-09-10 - Kolkata, India. SOUMITRA NANDI
The state Forest department has earmarked a 128 km stretch from Bankura (border) to Jhargram that needs special monitoring and fencing measures to prevent the entry of elephants from neighbouring states like Odisha and Jharkhand. State Forest minister Rajib Banerjee held a meeting at Kharagpur in West Midnapore on Wednesday to discuss measures that can be taken to reduce man – elephant conflict in the districts of south Bengal.
2020-08-30 - Kolkata, India.
An elephant belonging to the state Forest department has given birth to a male elephant calf at Gorumara National Park in Doars at 4.30 am on Saturday. State Forest minister Rajib Banerjee who is presently in North Bengal paid a visit at Gorumara and named the calf as Yuvraj. The calf's father is named Kiranraj, and his mother is known as Motirani.
2015-04-10 - KOLKATA, India.
Apeejay Tea and WWF India on Thursday announced a three-year, joint management project to find lasting solutions to manage the human-elephant conflicts in Assam. The first phase, which focuses on reducing human-elephant mortality levels substantially, will commence immediately with an intensive conflict management effort in Sonitpur district.
2015-04-04 - Kolkata, India.
In a sad incident, a young man was gored and killed by a wild elephant herd in Bankura district of West Bengal on Saturday. According to information, the incident occurred in Kuchkunda village under Barjora forest range of the district in the early hours of Saturday while the 25-year-old man was sleeping outside his house.
2013-11-14 - Kolkata, India.
Wildlife authorities Thursday lodged police complaints against the railways, a day after five elephants were mowed down by a speeding train. The incident took place around 5.45 p.m. Wednesday near the Nagrakata-Jaldhaka bridge in West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri district. An earlier report said six elephants were killed, but authorities later revised the figure to five.
2013-08-22 - Kolkata, India.
The tropical rainforests of Andaman islands are under threat - not from illegal felling of timber or clearing of forests for development activities - but from being finished off by an invasive species of deer and elephant, a research says. According to the report prepared by Rauf Ali from the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning in Puducherry, the herbivore species is causing the vegetation to decrease significantly.
2012-02-29 - KOLKATA, India.
If all goes well, the state will witness this traditional method of capturing wild elephants next August. Permission for this was sought way back in 2000. But the ministry of environment and forests sanctioned it only on February 16 to capture four sub-adult elephants from Dalma herd for captive use.
2009-11-01 - Kolkata, India.
Tourists at Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary in North Bengal will no longer be able to enjoy an elephant ride as the forest department plans use the animals to patrol the jungle against poachers. "There are five to six trained elephants at Jaldapara which ferry tourists in the forest. Instructions have been issued to the forest department to use them for patrolling," state's Chief Wildlife Warden S B Mondal told PTI here.
2009-10-15 - Kolkata, India.
Three women were crushed to death and four others, including two children, were injured by an elephant that went berserk in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district Thursday, a forest department official said. “Three women were killed and four, including two children, were seriously injured when a berserk elephant entered a village near Ambari forest area in the district,” a forest official said. “All four villagers were admitted to a nearby district hospital with critical injuries,” he said....
2009-08-16 - Kolkata, India.
A four-month-old sick elephant calf, which was rescued from a riverside in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district last month, died Sunday at a wildlife camp, a senior state forest department official said. The young pachyderm, named as Aranya by the forest department officials, died early Sunday, a senior state forest department official said. According to officials, the baby elephant, believed to be separated from its herd, was unfed and sick when it was first spotted near a riverside. Aranya was ...
2009-08-15 - Kolkata, India.
An adult female elephant was killed after getting entangled in electified fencing at an army cantonment in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district late Friday night, a forest department official said Saturday. The elephant came from Chapramari forest area in Dooars region and entered a village Friday night in search of food. It died on the spot. The army personnel found the elephant lying dead this morning and informed us, Jalpaiguri district’s divisional forest officer-2 Biman Biswas told IANS.
2008-11-21 - Kolkata, India.
A six-month-old elephant that strayed from the herd and fell into a ring-well at Pedothorang in Bagmundi block of West Bengal’s Purulia district was rescued after about 10 hours on Thursday. The staff of the local forest division and villagers had to first placate the mother elephant to reach the spot. Paddy stacks and mud were thrown into the 15-feet-deep well after initial efforts to draw out the baby elephant with ropes failed, K Balamurugan, local divisional forest officer told The Hindu o...
2008-06-19 - Kolkata, India. Raktima Bose
An elephant with rifle shots on its left hind leg was tracked down by wildlife officials on Tuesday near north Bengal’s border with Nepal, while an elephant calf died after coming in contact with the electrified border fence within the Nepal boundary. The injured tusker was part of a herd that entered the region from Nepal through the Mechi river corridor. It was tranquillised and treated by the wildlife department. Forest officials are certain that it was shot “either by the security force ...
2008-03-10 - Kolkata, India. Soudhriti Bhabani
Its indeed a jumbo-sized wish. A businessman in West Bengal wants to adopt an elephant, prompting the state government to mull over a legal amendment to fulfil the 65-year-old’s desire. Jute mill owner Om Prakash Mal from Kolkata’s twin town Howarh is one of the two people who have evinced interest in elephant adoption. The West Bengal government, which spends quite a fortune on maintenance of elephants, seems game to the idea and even ready for a legal amendment to facilitate the same.
2008-02-15 - Kolkata, India.
Alarmed over the killing of elephants by speeding trains in Dooars area of North Bengal, the Union Forest and Environment ministry has formed a seven-member committee to study and recommend steps to check such incidents. "At least 10 elephants were killed by speeding trains on railway tracks in the Dooars region since 2006. Union Forest and Environment ministry was approached to look into such incidents, following which it formed a seven-member committee," Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) ...
2008-01-16 - Kolkata, India. Mudassir Rizwan
An elephant calf died after it was mowed down by a goods train near Rajabhatkhawa range in West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve. Local reports here said the elephant calf was found dead near Shikari gate level crossing Tuesday. It had been run over by a Guwahati-bound train from Siliguri. "We have alerted railway authorities repeatedly to slow down the trains passing through the Buxa Tiger Reserve. Now, we will request chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to take up the matter with the centre," Wes...
2008-01-07 - Kolkata, India.
West Bengal has finally woken up to the call of wildlife activists who have been voicing concern over the high incidence of elephant deaths on railway tracks - around nine since 2004 - in the state's northern parts. The West Bengal forest department has formulated a proposal and submitted it to the union ministry of environment and forests. The proposal has been accepted and handed over to the Railway Board, West Bengal principal chief conservator of forests Atanu Raha told IANS.
2008-01-06 - Kolkata, India.
Four persons were injured and around 40 mud houses damaged in Bankura district by a herd of elephants, Forest department sources said today. According to sources, a herd of 72 elephants has entered Bankura from Dalma forest. While 50 elephants are roaming in the Barjora jungle, another 22 entered Beliatore and injured the villagers. Early this morning, several elephants entered the Chakurdanaga village under the Barjora police station area and created panic among the villagers.
2007-12-27 - Kolkata, India.
The violent, erratic behaviour of an elephant at a city circus about a week ago has triggered debate on the treatment meted out to animals in captivity. Animal rights activists are saying the circus authorities were not taking proper care of Bhola, the tusker of Nataraj Circus, which created a flutter, smashing furniture, ripping iron rods and damaging the ticket counter before being tranquilised by forest officials. "Wild animals cannot be tamed fully," said People for Animals (PFA) member Deba...
2007-12-22 - Kolkata, India.
The circus elephant Bhola, whose tantrums had forced police to suspend all shows, was tranquillized and ferried to Domjur in Howrah on Friday. The authorities of Nataraj Circus at Tallah Park in north Kolkata used a crane to haul Bhola on a truck, which took him to a Domjur farmhouse. Veterinarians agreed that shifting the elephant will help change its behaviour. They added the pachyderm will turn normal after effects of the tranquilliser wears off in 36 hours. The decision was taken as Bhola wa...
2007-12-19 - Kolkata, India. Kumar Sarkar
A giant male tusker on circus Natraj in Kolkata went on the rampage on Wednesday uprooting poles, tearing apart tents, flinging aside tin sheets and scaring circus employees out of their wits. The police, the fire brigade, forest department officials and wild life experts rushed to Tala Park where the Natraj Circus is performing.
2007-12-15 - Kolkata, India. Rajib Chakraborty
Savitri, a circus elephant who made headlines a few months ago after she went off with a tusker in Ranigunj, is expected to give a New Year's gift to the circus company she is working with. The gift will be a calf, as she became pregnant. The elephant spent 10 days in the jungle with the tusker in August. The circus company found the elephant 20 days ago on the city's northern fringes, where people in their thousands thronged daily with food, including banana and coconut leaves, cabbages and cau...
2007-12-03 - Kolkata, India.
Frequent deaths of elephants due to collision with trains in north Bengal have finally forced the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to sit up and take notice of the situation. In a significant step, the ministry has identified four vulnerable elephant corridors in the area and has accordingly given recommendations to the Railway Board.
2007-12-02 - Kolkata, India.
Frequent deaths of elephants due to collision with trains in north Bengal have finally forced the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to sit up and take notice of the situation. In a significant step, the ministry has identified four vulnerable elephant corridors in the area and has accordingly given recommendations to the Railway Board. In a span of seven years, 26 elephants have been killed in North Bengal. Nine elephants have been killed in the last two years alone.
2007-08-07 - Kolkata, India. Bappa Majumdar
Authorities in eastern India have dropped plans to set up two new elephant reserves, enraging conservationists who say the decision threatens wildlife and is aimed at helping mining firms operate in the area. "The area for the two proposed elephant reserves was too big and that was why we withdrew the proposals," said P.N. Padhi, a senior official in Orissa's forest and environment department. "Multi-nationals can now carry out mining easily and get all the environmental clearance without any im...
2007-08-02 - Kolkata, India. Marcus Dam
The death of an adult female elephant from suspected electrocution in the Gorubathang area of West Bengal’s Kalimpong subdivision early on Wednesday has raised questions over the efficacy of joint-monitoring by officials of the State’s Forest and Power Departments against illegal methods employed by locals to prevent depredation and elephant attacks in the region. An average of 50 persons die each year in elephant-human conflicts in north Bengal — among the highest in the country.
2007-08-01 - Kolkata, India.
An elephant was electrocuted Wednesday in a north Bengal tea garden after it touched a live wire with its trunk, forest officials told the Indo-Asian News Service. A herd of 15 to 20 elephants wandered into the tea garden at Jalpaiguris Malbazar, about 370 miles from Kolkata, looking for food, when one that strayed from the herd felt a live wire with its trunk and died instantly, reported the news service.
2007-07-28 - Kolkata, India.
Minister in-charge of the state forest department (SFD) Ananta Roy, in the state Assembly on Friday said that 48 people were killed during elephant attacks in the state in 2006. The figures re-confirm the growing human-animal conflict in in the state. Roy further said that at present, a compensation of Rs 4,000 per hectare is paid for damage done to crops by elephants. Rs 50,000 is offered as compensation for death due to elephant attack.
2007-05-04 - Kolkata, India. Poushali Mitra
At five in the evening, Ranaghat Swastha Unnati Maidans gates open to usher in a flood of visitors. Five-year-old Twinkle too jostles among the crowd to catch a rare glimpse of the new arrival — a month-old elephant calf left behind by a circus troupe. Baby Jonaki was born when the Moonlight circus company was camped at the Ranaghat maidan. But as she was too young to travel, the state forest department would not allow her to move out of town until she was at least three months old.
2007-04-27 - KOLKATA, India.
Wildlife officials believe that the four-day elephant census that ended on Thursday will reveal a considerable increase in population in north Bengal where the elephant-human conflict is among the highest in the country. The last census in 2005 estimated the population at between 300 and 350, while it was around 280 in the one carried out two years earlier.
2007-04-26 - Kolkata, India. Bappa Majumdar
A government study in India has shown elephants prefer food crops to forest fodder and often travel hundreds of miles to the same farmland every year, even remembering specific months of harvesting. Elephants were adapting to new foods as their traditional habitat was shrinking due to villagers encroaching in forests, experts said after a four-year study on Asian elephants in West Bengal state.
2007-01-10 - KOLKATA, India. Bappa Majumdar
When a herd of wild elephants rampaged through a school kitchen in India's West Bengal state, gobbling up rice and lentils, seven-year-old Suman Bera and classmates were left without lunch and lessons. The animals left a trail of destruction in their search for food, forcing officials to cancel classes.
2004-10-24 - Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Ravik Bhattacharya, The Statesman
Tamed pachyderms have become Bengal’s white elephants. There is a sudden glut in elephants bred in captivity in West Bengal, and the state’s cash-strapped forest department is finding it difficult to maintain them.
2025-04-20 - Zurich, Switzerland.
On Saturday night, a new baby was born at Zurich Zoo: an elephant calf was born. The 19-year-old Farha gave birth to the male cub on Saturday night. The birth went without complications. The elephant ...
2025-04-12 - Trichur, India.
Nandini was offered to Lord Guruvayurappan on May 9, 1964, by Palliyalil Narayanan Nair of Nilambur. To prevent her condition from deteriorating, a rubber mat was laid for her at Kottumthara four year...
2025-04-12 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo announced on Thursday the birth of its first elephant. Talia, the mother elephant, gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Bomani, which means “warrior” in Swahili. Accordin...
2025-03-27 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In a united effort to prevent forest fires, a team of three elephants joined over 20 locals in constructing firebreaks in Chiang Mai’s Mae Taeng district on Wednesday. The initiative, led by Phra Kh...
2025-03-27 - Cholamunda, India.
A Wild tusker, known as Kasera Komban, was found dead in abandoned septic tank in Kerala Malappuram. The tusker used to be affectionately called "Kasera Komban" due to its remarkably long tusks, which...
2025-03-18 - Wichita, United States.
The Sedgwick County Zoo announced Monday that 29-year-old African elephant Simunye delivered a stillborn calf following a healthy, full-term pregnancy. This would have marked the first elephant born a...
2025-03-08 - Guwahati, India.
A female elephant calf took birth in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park. The newborn, named Gauri, is the offspring of an elephant named Phulmai, who resides within the protected area of Kaziranga.
2025-03-05 - Trichy, India.
A 60-year-old female elephant named Jaini, who was being cared for at the MR Palayam Government Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Reserve Forest under the Trichy Forest Division, has passed away. The ...
2025-02-07 - Amboseli, Kenya.
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paolo, one of Amboseli’s most famous and cherished elephants. At 46 years old, Paolo’s death marks the loss of a true giant, not only in size but ...
