2024-03-26 - Kochi, India.
Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, 55, 55, died at Mangalamkunnu in Palakkad on Monday. The elephant owned by M A Haridasan had been under treatment for the past few months.
2024-02-29 - Alappuzha, India.
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally. When he got transferred in December, Kannan relapsed to menacing temper; snorting in anger and acting aggressively.
2024-01-30 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zoo to a total of 26, eliciting joy not only among the visitors but also among the dedicated staff. Both the mother and the newborn are receiving special attention and care to ensure their well-being. The elephant calf, weighing between 120 and 130 kg, adds a heartwarming charm to the zoo’s vibrant ...
2024-01-27 - Guruvayur, India.
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the time of death is 62 years as per Devaswom records. In August 1985, Kannan was offered to the temple by Balram, a native of Thrissur. With the death of Kannan, the number of elephants in Guruvayur is now 39.
2024-01-11 - Mysore, India.
In response to the escalating threat posed by leopards, elephants and other wild animals in the Mysuru region, specialised task forces have been established to address the situation. A dedicated Leopard Task Force has been formed in the Mysuru Circle, while an Elephant Task Force has been deployed in the Hunsur area.
2023-11-01 - Bandipur, India. Vartha Bharati
In a tragic incident, an elephant named Vinayaka, also known as Akkiraja, residing at the Rampura elephant camp in the Bandipur tiger reserve, passed away on Tuesday. The sudden demise occurred after the elephant fell ill and collapsed during a training session at the camp. The exact cause of death is yet to be confirmed, pending the post-mortem report, according to officials from the Forest Department. Vinayaka, originally captured in the forest areas of Coimbatore in 2021, had l...
2023-10-24 - Shivamogga, India.
In a rare incident, Netravathi, a female elephant, which had been brought from the Sakrebaiu camp to Shivamogga, for the Jumboo Savari to be held on Vijayadashami festival day (today), delivered a female baby in the premises of the Vasavi school in the wee hours of Monday.
2023-08-22 - Mysore, India.
Preparations are in full swing at the Mysore Palace premises ahead of the arrival of the Dasara elephants. The jumbos will camp here for approximately two months, undergoing training and consuming nutritious food, till the grand Jumboo Savari. Meanwhile, elephants Vikrama and Chaitra, usually part of the Jumboo Savari, will not be participating this year. Chaitra, a 50-year-old Kumki elephant from Rampura Elephant Camp in Bandipur, has been confirmed as pregnant through a mandatory pregnancy tes...
2023-05-05 - Hunsur, India.
Balarama, the 67-year-old former Captain of the Dasara Jumboo Savari elephant squad, who had carried the 750-kg Golden Howdah for a record 14 times has fallen sick due to suspected Tuberculosis (TB) and is said to be critically ill.
2023-04-21 - Bannerghatta, India.
Performing a rare surgery, a team of veterinary surgeons saved a 48-year-old elephant at Bannerghatta Biological Park. which had suffered a stillbirt and was on the verge of dying. Suvarna has so far delivered nine calves — the highest the highest number of elephant deliveries at the park.
2023-03-13 - Theppakadu, India.
Shot in the Theppakadu Elephant Camp inside the Mudumulai Tiger Reserve in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, The Elephant Whisperers follows Bomman and Bellie as they care for Raghu, an injured baby elephant who gets separated from his herd. Later, Belli is also given the responsibility to care for Ammu, a female elephant calf.
2023-02-22 - Ramnagar, India.
The 35-year-old elephant Moti passed away on Saturday after suffering a leg and foot injury from being abused his whole life, animal welfare organization Wildlife SOS said. Moti was living in captivity till 2021 when his owner died, local media said. He was then left on his own on the streets to beg in the town of Ramnagar. In January, Wildlife SOS was alerted about the Asian elephant Moti, who had collapsed and couldn’t stand up.
2023-02-17 - Lucknow, India. Manish Sahu, Indian Express
Two women and a five-year-old boy were trampled to death when an elephant went berserk during a ‘kalash yatra’ (religious procession) at Mohammadpur Mafi village of Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district on Thursday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Kaushlaya Devi (46), her grandson Krishna and their neighbour Kanti Devi (55), police said. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination. The procession was being taken out by residents of the village.
2023-01-22 - Palakkad, India.
The rogue elephant till now known as PT 7, short for Palakkad Tusker 7, has got a new name. The jumbo was tranquilised by the Forest Department on Sunday morning and moved into a cage by afternoon. The tusker, who unleashed terror in the Dhoni area of the district and thus made the place famous, will now be called Dhoni.
2022-08-19 - New Delhi, India.
Elephant-human conflicts have been on the rise in India as a result of habitat loss, and experts say such conflicts could get worse unless forested areas are protected and migration corridors restored. More than 1,500 people have died in elephant attacks in the country in the past three years, with 300 of the animals killed in retaliation, according to government figures, as authorities seek long-term solutions to minimize such incidents. By various estimates, including those prov...
2022-08-18 - Mysore, India.
A week after embarking on a practice walk on Jamboo Savari route, howdah elephant Abhimanyu entered the second phase of training on Thursday. The 300-kg sand bags were mounted on Abhimanyu after performing the rituals at Palace precincts, under the supervision of priest Prahlad. Unlike last two years, when Abhimanyu did it all-from practice to the carrying of 750-kg golden howdah on the D-day of Jamboo Savari within the Palace fort due to the restrictions of Covid-19 pandemic, for the first time...
2022-08-15 - Chittoor, India.
Jayanth (65) and Vinayak (52) are kumkis (trained elephants), faithfully serving the Forest Department in Chittoor district for more than two decades. Housed at the Naniyala forest camp in the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary at Ramakuppam, over 100 km from here, these two male tuskers are nearing their retirement stage. Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West) S. Ravi Shankar said donors could adopt either one or two kumkis. While Jayanth was born wild on the elephant corridor along...
2022-08-14 - Lakhimpur Kheri, India.
Chief conservator of forests and field director, Sanjay Kumar Pathak has decided to document the experiences of these veteran mahouts so that not only the park authorities but other mahouts also benefit. Pathak said when he took charge of Dudhwa as field director in 2020, he decided to document the experiences of these veteran mahouts so that not only the park authorities but other mahouts also benefit.
2022-08-11 - Theppakadu, India.
Wasim’s trunk pauses midair as he reaches for a bamboo shoot. His mahout, M Eswaran, calls out a command from a distance and in a split second, the elephant changes course. The shoot is far from his reach, and hangs above a slippery clump of grass: Eswaran had alerted his elephant. The 28 elephants of Tamil Nadu Forest Dept’s Theppakadu camp at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris, are cared for by some of the country’s most experienced mahouts, many of whom have transformed the l...
2022-07-10 - Panna, India.
A 55-year-old elephant is held captive in chains and shackels in the Panna Tiger Reserve after the elephant brutally killed its mahout Budhram Rotiya on Monday, said an official. Ever since its arrival at the Panna Tiger Reserve in 1993, 'Rambahadur', a wild elephant, was trained and looked after by mahout Budhram Routia.
2022-07-08 - Mysore, India.
The Forest Department will initiate the process of identifying elephants for Mysuru Dasara-2022 from July 15 onwards and the jumbos for the finale is likely to be finalised by July 30, ahead of the Dasara High-Power Committee meeting. About 14-15 jumbos are likely to be finalised and the jumbo list after their health check-up would be sent to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) for approval. On the government’s nod, the dates of Gajapayana are finalised.
2022-04-27 - Pollachi, India.
Vijayalakshmi, the second oldest camp elephant of the Tamil forest department, died at the age of 71 in the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday afternoon. The female elephant had not been taking fodder properly for the last 20 days due to digestive ailments. A four-member team had been treating the elephant for the last 20 days, due to digestive ailments.
2022-04-22 - Malappuram, India.
The viral video was shared with the claim that the Muslim man from Kerela attempted to provide the elephant with meat to consume. Social media users mocking alleged that it was an attempt to convert the elephant into Islam. In actuality, the video shows Nabeel Kunhappu with his son who was attempting to feed Kolakkadan Mini with coconuts. The incident took place in Malappuram, Kerela.
2022-04-21 - , India.
Ramesh Kumar, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, said a few tourists on a safari and staff saw a pregnant elephant near the old reception centre. As the safari van waited, the elephant heaved itself and gingerly walked towards a boulder surrounded by a thicket and a water body and gave birth to twin calves. n reaching the spot, we found the elephants inside a crater filled with water almost up to their neck,” said Mr. Ramesh Kumar.
2022-04-17 - , India.
Dudhwa would soon have its own dedicated elephant reserve named as Terai Elephant Reserve (TER). The proposed Terai Elephant Reserve in Dudhwa would comprise Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (800 sq kms), Dudhwa National Park (680 sq km), Kishanpur wildlife sanctuary (204 sq km), Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary (440 sq km area), and parts of north and south Kheri forest divisions.
Four veterinary experts have started treatment of Vijayalakshmi, a 72-year-old female elephant housed at the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, which has been suffering from digestive aliments for over 10 days. The camp houses 27 elephants.
2022-04-15 - Kochi, India.
The High Court has directed that the government\'s order not to allow more escort elephants than existing ones must be complied with in festivals and other functions at temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board. A division bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice PG Ajithkumar passed the order on a petition filed by Ambalapuzha native P Premakumar seeking action against the culprits in connection with the death of the elephant named Ambalapuzha Vijayakrishnan owned by the Devaswom...
2022-04-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant that ran amok on Monday at Mukkukada near Navayikkulam in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district. Unni, a native of Vellannoor, was killed by the elephant which was brought to carry timber from a private property in the area. Unni was one of the two mahouts of the elephant. Attempts to tame the elephant were on.
2022-04-10 - COIMBATORE, India.
xperts from the Forest College and Research Institute in Mettupalayam have told a committee constituted to probe the reasons for the death of wild elephants, especially young ones, over the past year in Tamil Nadu that 130 elephants may die in Tamil Nadu this year and their population may have gone up by 800 compared to the last census in 2017.
2022-04-08 - Pollachi, India.
Malasar, a six-minute conservation film, narrated by actor Nasser, shows not just the sacred bond between elephants and the Malasar tribes of the Anamalai Hills but also the need to protect the tribes, their identity and conventional wisdom. The Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) near TopSlip is exclusively used to train and discipline captive Asian elephants under the native tribes, who have special skills to work with them. Anaimalai is designated as an ‘anthropol...
2022-03-30 - Jalpaiguri, India.
The state forest department intercepted seven elephants on trucks from near the Teesta bridge on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town on Tuesday. The animals were found from six trucks reportedly heading to Gujarat from the Northeast. Foresters called up vets who examined the elephants. Five are male, one is female and one is a male calf. Last year, two elephants on trucks stopped at the same spot. They were on the way to a temple in Gujarat. The drivers had valid papers.
2022-03-13 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Dhinesh Kallungal
Around 20 instances of elephants running amok have been reported in the State, especially in Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts, in March alone, though not many casualties have been reported in this connection. The workload on the elephants can be judged from the number of elephants available in the State now. The State had around 521 elephants as per the jumbo census in November 2018. But after the census, 75 elephants died, reducing their number to 446. “There is a great mismatch bet...
2022-03-10 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Visitors’ entry into Nandankanan zoo was restricted for a day after two wild elephants strayed into the zoological park by breaking the fences near Daruthenga early on Wednesday. The elephants that entered the zoo premises at around 4 am caused minor damage to the plantation area, fodder farm, and sprinklers in the morning. However, no damage has been caused to any enclosure, said Nandankanan deputy director Sanjeet Kumar.
2022-03-03 - , India.
Tribal people and officials of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Tuesday night set up a special kraal with wooden flooring at Kozhikamuthi to treat an elephant that has severe injuries in the leg. The elephant, aged 4 to 6 years, was rescued in Ulanthy last week. It suffered injuries in the right hind leg and has difficulty walking on three legs.
2022-01-29 - Guwahati, India.
The girl Harshita Bora is from the Golaghat district of upper Assam. She has been found to be playing around with an elephant and drinking its milk. The elephant too understanding the presence of the young girl has shown its motherly side to the young girl.
2022-01-26 - Pollachi, India.
The Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) is yet to get a dedicated veterinarian despite being a protected habitat of endangered species such as tiger, elephant, the Nilgiri tahr (also the State animal of Tamil Nadu), Lion-tailed Macaque and home to more than 20 camp elephants. ATR currently has 27 camp elephants at its two elephant camps — Kozhikamuthi and Varagaliyar. The camp elephants require veterinary care when they fall sick or males develop musth.
2021-12-25 - Kochi, India.
A Mahout was critically injured after an elephant he was giving a shower forward of parading in reference to a temple ritual turned violent and gored him. The Mahout recognized as Ratnakaran (57) of Onakkoor suffered a deep wound on his rib and was rushed to a non-public hospital close by. “The wound caused by the tusk is fairly deep. We have moved him into ventilator,” stated hospital sources. The elephant recognized as Polakulam Vishu Narayanan was dropped at the temple as a part of the pa...
2021-12-24 - Silchar, India.
In order to keep track of elephants and better monitoring of the pachyderms, Cachar Forest officials have started implanting microchips in them. The three-day camp, which began at Sonai Forest office on Wednesday, was next held at Salchapra on Thursday and Sonai and Matinagar of Cachar district on Friday. The camp also consisted of health checkup for the elephants and verification of the owner.
2021-12-23 - Theppakadu, India.
Cheran, a kumki elephant who was injured by a care taker, got his vision back, thanks to the efforts of the team led by veterinary assistant surgeon K Rajesh Kumar. The 35-year-old elephant is receiving treatment at the Theppakadu elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). Currently, the animal has got back nearly 80 per cent of his eyesight and it will take a few more months to recover completely.
2021-12-23 - Tiruchy, India.
The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at MR Palayam continues to grow as a haven for sick pachyderms in the State, with two new elephants in dire health conditions being brought for rehabilitation last week. With this, the elephant population at the centre has increased to eight in three years.A veterinary doctor from Coimbatore monitors the health of each elephant every fortnight and a veterinary doctor from the district visits the camp every single week.
2021-12-16 - Madikeri, India.
The tamed elephants belonging to conservationist and wildlife researcher Prajna Chowta are being transferred to the possession of the forest department. Residents across Dubare alleged that the elephants from Prajna’s foundation often raided the crops and caused immense damage. Following this, in August this year, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden ordered the confiscation of the elephants owned by Prajna.
2021-12-15 - Mysore, India.
Four of the six elephants that were under the custody of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru, have been shifted to Gujarat. The elephants which are in transit, left Mysuru late on Tuesday night and will be housed at Elephant Care Centre at Jamnagar. Seetha, Ruby, Gemini and Rajeshwari are being transported in trucks and the Forest Department veterinarians had certified that they were fit to travel.
2021-11-28 - Palakkad, India.
An increase in the frequency of deaths of captive elephants has prompted jumbo lovers to ask two key questions. Without enough festivals in the last two years, have the elephants contracted diseases or developed fitness issues? Mangalamkunnu Haridas, who lost two of his elephants Rajan and Gajendran in as many days, said the captive jumbos were mostly idling in the last two years due to lack of festivals. “Captive elephants need exercise. Mahouts take them out for one or two rounds of walk, bu...
2021-11-10 - Mathura, India.
On 10 November 2021, we bid farewell to our beloved Karma. A few days before she passed, Karma collapsed out of exhaustion. Our team would lift Karma up with the help of a crane, without which they feared she would fall again. Despite all efforts, Karma collapsed again, but this time she did not get up. She passed with as much serenity as she had entered the Hospital Campus. Her post mortem report revealed that Karma’s vital organs had slowly been deteriorating. Due to complete respiratory fa...
2021-11-03 - COIMBATORE, India.
A mahout was injured in the attack of a camp elephant at the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve near Top Slip on Monday. A Forest Department official said the mahout, Jayachandran (45), was attacked by the elephant when he was taking care of it. Jayachandran was admitted to a private hospital at Pollachi. His condition was stable, the officer added.
2021-11-02 - Bankura, India.
A three-month-old male orphan baby of an electrocuted elephant from Assam’s Golaghat district has found a second home at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC). The centre, the only rehabilitation shelter for wildlife orphans in northeast India, is now the abode of this baby after it was rescued by Golaghat division’s forest team.
2021-10-08 - Bubaneshwar, India.
Elephants death toll has risen in Keonjhar forest division over the last one year. Sources revealed that when Santosh Joshi was the DFO from 2017 to 2020, 24 elephants had died in Keonjhar forest division spreading shock and surprise among wildlife lovers and environmentalists. However, after the transfer of Joshi to Mayurbhanj, DFO Swayam Mallik had stressed on forest and wildlife conservation and there was no death of elephants during his one-year tenure.
2021-09-27 - Shivamogga, India. DHNS, Shivamogga
Gange, a female elephant used for khedda operations, died at the Sakrebailu camp in the district on Sunday. "The elephant was not well for the past two years. The condition worsened fifteen days ago. She was not consuming food properly," said Dr Vinay, who was treating the pachyderm. Gange attracted elephants during khedda operations. She was also caught in a similar operation at Kakanakote in 1971 and had given birth to six calves, said Deputy Forest Officer I M Nagaraj.
2021-08-14 - Bhubaneswar, India.
With the large scale poaching of tuskers over the years, the gender imbalance is fast emerging as a major threat to the elephant population growth in Odisha with the drastic drop in the numbers of adult breeding tuskers. As against 1,902 female species, the male population of elephants stands abysmally low at 344. The conservative figures put adult males including sub-adults at about 150-175 but the large adult breeding males above the age of 20 to 25 could be as less as 80 to 100.
2021-08-12 - COIMBATORE, India.
An elephant, which was found dead at Mangalapatti near Thengumaradha in Nilgiris district.on Tuesday, may have died of anthrax, according to the forest department.
2021-08-12 - New Delhi, India.
Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said that nature conservation should be taken up with a scientific approach involving the local community. Only technical advances cannot save environment. Without public participation, without traditional wisdom, we cannot carry out conservation," he said, while addressing an event organised by his ministry to mark the World Elephant Day.
2021-08-12 - Hyderabad, India.
An elephant, Madhuri aged 38 years from Kolhapur will be used to carry the Bibi ka Alam standard during the procession on the 10 of Muharram month scheduled next Friday. The costs involved in bringing elephant for the procession are taken care of by Telangana State Wakf Board following a representation of Riyaz ul Hassan Effandi, AIMIM MLC. Madhuri is expected to reach Hyderabad on Friday and will be housed at Khilwat Palace Aashoorkhana located near Charminar bus stand.
2021-08-11 - Bhubaneswar, India.
In 2019, five elephants had died within 33 days in Odisha after testing positive for herpes
2021-08-06 - Udhagamandalam, India.
The villagers reportedly noticed Rivaldo moving around their area in the wee hours of Wednesday, about 40 kms from the camp and alerted the forest department officials.Though the elephant was radio-collared, the movement of Rivaldo could not be traced, may be due to rains and clouds, Forest department sources said.
2021-08-03 - Chennai, India.
In a 10-hour operation, the iconic tusker Rivaldo, which was captured and put inside a kraal for nearly three months, was successfully released in Chikala in Theppakadu forest range of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve on Monday. It was for the first time such a role reversal from kraal to wild was done in the country. Fitted with a radio collar, Rivaldo's movement is being monitored on an hourly basis. The last live location shows Rivaldo was moving towards Bandipur National Park in Karnataka
2021-07-28 - Thrissur, India.
The 28-year-old elephant Keerthi of Anakotta (elephant camp) in Guruvayur was found with burn injuries on his head and neck. Injuries on the upper parts of the body remains a mystery to the authorities even after the forest officials visited the place and examined it.Later, the statement of the elephant’s mahouts were recorded. However, they aren’t sure about the cause of injury.
2021-07-27 - MADIKERI, India.
The Mathigodu Camp elephant Kunthi was called in for the rescue mission. A rope was tied around the neck of the calf and it was pulled out by Kunthi. We are tracking the herd across Devarapura Sacred Grove limits to reunite the calf with its mother,” confirmed RFO Ashok.
2021-07-10 - Chennai, India.
Two years ago, Chinnathambi, the famous lonely tusker of the Coimbatore forest circle was captured and converted into a captive elephant. Now the gentle jumbo is a case study for the young TN foresters and is one of the disciplined captive elephants maintained by the forest department for foresters to study about the animal conflicts and their rescue operations.
2021-07-10 - COIMBATORE, India.
A male tusker that was recently captured in Gudalur died at the Abhayaranayam temporary elephant camp in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Friday evening. The animal, believed to be around 30-years-old, had sustained an injury to the region around the base of its tail three years ago. The injury is believed to have probably been caused as a result of a fight with another tusker.
2021-07-09 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Since 2010, around 100 electrocution deaths of elephants have occurred in Odisha. The majority of the electrocution deaths are attributed to live wire poaching. An adult tusker died of electrocution in Talagarh forested areas under the Baantala forest range of Angul district after the animal had come in contact with a live wire. The live wire trap might have been laid out by suspected poachers for the killing of wild elephants.
2021-07-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Three baby elephants at the rehabilitation centre for pachyderms in Kottur here, who were showing symptoms of Herpes viral infection are stable now, the wildlife department said on Wednesday. The remaining three continued to be under treatment and one of them - a male calf named Kannan, was in a slightly more serious condition. The remaining six calves under the age of 10 years at the centre are also not showing any symptoms of the infection,
2021-07-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A six-year previous elephant calf died as a consequence of Herpes virus an infection on the rehabilitation centre for pachyderms at Kottur right here, making it the second such casualty there inside one week and three extra calves — Podichi, Aamina and Kannan — are present process IV remedy as they confirmed signs of the virus an infection. Apart from them, six different calves beneath the age of 10 years are beneath statement and have been given prophylactics to stop an infection.
2021-07-05 - Madikeri, India.
Two adult elephants and a baby elephant died in two separate incidents in Coorg district, here. A male elephant and a baby elephant among them have died at Nagarahole National Park, near Nittur gram of South Coorg. Experts suspect that the male elephant was about 12 to 15 years old and the baby elephant was about a month old. Veterinary doctor Chandrashekar performed the post mortem.
2021-07-05 - Mysore, India.
Along with seasoned elephants like Arjuna, Abhimanyu and Harsha, Vikram too is an expert in wild elephant capture operations. As such, he was taken from Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu District to Rampur Elephant Camp near Bandipur. Sometime back, he was taken to Ramanagara and Hassan to capture rogue elephants and now he will be at Rampur, said Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Hediyala Division M.S. Ravikumar.
2021-07-05 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India.
Elephant Shankar, which was undergoing training at a kraal in Abhayaranyam in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris for the last four-and-a-half months, was shifted to the nearby temporary elephant camp on Sunday. Including Shankar, there are 12 elephants in the Abhayaranyam temporary elephant camp. The rogue tusker, which killed three people in Gudalur area, was captured from Cherambadi in Gudalur division on February 12. The 35-year-old animal had killed the trio, including a man and h...
2021-07-04 - Thrissur, India.
Elephant Guruvayur Madhavankutty belonging to the Guruvayur Devaswom died on Saturday. According to Devaswom records, the tusker was aged 57. But veterinarians who examined it said it must be older by more years. With the death of Madhavankutty, the number of elephants belonging to the Guruvayur Devaswom shrunk to 44.
2021-07-02 - Chennai, India.
‘Operation Baahubali’, the mission to fit a radio collar to a wild elephant, has been postponed by another 10 days as the animal continues to remain elusive to forest officials. The adult male elephant Baahubali (nicknamed by locals after a Telegu movie character) was found in Mettupalayam, in the foothills of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district a year back.
2021-07-02 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The elephant rehabilitation centre in Kottoor is on high alert following the death of an elephant calf due to elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) and the diagnoses of the infection in two others. The first casualty of the deadly virus at the centre was Sreekutty, aged one year and seven months. The calf died on June 28. The State Institute of Animal Diseases, Palode, confirmed the disease on Thursday.
2021-07-01 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India.
Forest minister K Ramachandran on Wednesday visited elephant Rivaldo, which is put in a kraal at Vazhaithottam check post. “The eight-member expert committee, set up to decide the fate of the elephant, will prepare a report after examining it. We will take a call then,” the minister said and hinted that it may be shifted to an elephant camp. Rivaldo was guided to the kraal on May 5 by forest officials for treatment. The elephant had been wandering in Vazhaithottam and Mavanallah areas in the...
2021-06-28 - Kottoor, India.
It was in November 2020 that Sreekutty, a baby elephant, celebrated her first birthday with a little party thrown on her behalf by the people who took care of her. But seven months later, on June 28, she died, aged one and a half years. Sreekutty, the much-loved elephant calf of the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Kottoor of Kerala, left many hearts broken.
2021-06-27 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Field director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) K K Kaushal on Saturday wrote twrote to the vice-chancellor of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), seeking service of a veterinarian to examine the injured eye of elephant Cherans the injured eye of elephant Cheran at the Theppakadu elephant camp in Tamil Nadu.
2021-06-26 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Cheran, a kumki elephant at the Theppakadu camp, was blinded by a ‘kaavadi’, or assistant to its mahout, on May 17. The elephant, aged around 35, has been used in many operations to capture or drive away wild elephants in the Western Ghats. It had already lost sight in one eye and depended on the left eye for vision. Disciplinary action initiated against forest staff, says official
2021-06-23 - Palamaner, India.
It is for the first time in recent years that a 26-member herd has appeared on the outskirts of Palamaner, making it tough for the field staff to drive them into the thickets,” he said. The elephant trackers in a bid to tackle the wild herd tried firing crackers. In this process, a cracker exploded in the hand of forest watcher Srihari. The seriously injured worker, with three fingers missing, was rushed to the area hospital.
2021-06-19 - Lucknow, India. Subha J Rao
In 2000, Champakali, a pregnant elephant, was brought to the garden from Dudhwa National Park. Around the same time, another elephant had been brought in from somewhere in Rajasthan. The two struck a chord and spent all their time together. “They would eat together, walk together… suddenly Champakali collapsed. Her baby had died. Her friend was inconsolable. We gave medicines to trigger hunger, but he did not eat for 13 or 14 days and died too,” says Kashyap, his voice heavy with emotion.
2021-06-09 - Palakkad, India.
Manisseeri Raghuram, an elephant famous for its magnificent presence during temple festivals in the State, including Thrissur Pooram, died at Ottapalam on Wednesday. The elephant was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and foot disease for the past several months. It had last paraded for the Paramekavu at Thrissur Pooram.
2021-06-09 - Hyderabad, India.
The Nehru Zoological Pak (NZP) here announced on Wednesday that it has lost an 83-year-old Asiatic elephant and a 21-year-old leopard due to senility. NZP Curator Subhadra Devi said Rani breathed her last on Tuesday and the post-mortem indicated old age related multiple organ failure as the cause of death. Born on October 7, 1938, Rani was one of the oldest elephants in captivity. Devi said Rani lived its life to the fullest and took food till last day and left without any major physical sufferi...
2021-04-28 - Coorg, India.
Wild tusker Kusha, who escapade from Dubare elephant camp into the jungles to find companions had the Forest Department on tenterhooks for months, has won his freedom. His release from the camp was ordered by Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali on Wednesday after a prolonged discussion with the officials. Though captured from the wild near Chettahalli in Madikeri forest division five years ago and put in a Kraal in Dubare and tamed, it did not crush his spirit and he yearned for freedom.
2021-04-13 - New Delhi, India.
The elephant is regarded as India's National Heritage Animal. As per the 2017 census, the country housed a population of 27,312 elephants accounting for about 60% of the world's wild Asian elephant population! From this striking percentage, it appears that the country has managed to conserve its elephants quite commendably. However, the demands of development have led to the wanton destruction and fragmentation of elephant habitats across the country in recent decades. The future of India's wild...
2021-04-10 - , India.
A probe relating to the death of tusker Ambalappuzha Vijayakrishnan has begun. On Saturday, Manu P. Menon, Sub Inspector, Vigilance and Security, TDB visited the Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Swamy temple and met the devaswom administrative officer as part of the investigation. The 51-year-old elephant, owned by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), died on the Sree Krishna Swamy temple premises on Thursday. The investigation is led by Bijoy P., Superintendent of Police, Vigilance and Security, Trava...
2021-04-08 - Jamshedpur, India. Jayesh Thaker
The elephant count at Dalma wildlife sanctuary is all set to pep up during the census as foresters have spotted around 20 calves inside the sprawling 192 sq km sanctuary, 30 km from Jamshedpur. There are 155 elephants at Dalma reserve.The elephants had migrated to the jungles of West Midnapore and Bankura in neighbouring Bengal in August-September last year.
2021-04-08 - Madurai, India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a probe into alleged poaching and killing of elephants in the forests of Tamil Nadu, an issue raised by wildlife activists over the years. Several elephants have been electrocuted or killed by poachers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the last few years.
2021-04-08 - Ambalapuzha, India. Neethu Joseph
It was the efforts of a few kind-hearted people that helped rescue Ambalapuzha Vijayakrishnan, an injured captive elephant in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, from being paraded in a temple festival, something for which officials had deemed the tusker ‘fit’. Unfortunately, on Thursday, the 51-year-old elephant, owned by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), succumbed to its illness. According to activists who had been closely monitoring the elephant, it had not been taking food properly for the...
2021-04-04 - Coorg, India.
Kusha, the 27-year-old male elephant that went missing from Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu district, has been put in Kraal now. Kraal is a wooden log enclosure into which elephants are driven to be tamed and Dubare Camp has many such Kraals. Kusha, in a ‘Musth’ condition, had ventured into the forests after breaking his heavy chain one-and-a-half years ago in search of a mate and had not returned. He was caught last week and was brought to Meenukolli. Being separated from its mate using for...
2021-03-31 - Raipur, India. AVDHESH MALLICK
Chhattisgarh which witnessed, death of 157 wild elephants from 2001- June 2020 has witnessed death of one more baby elephant in the forest circles of Dharamjaigarh of Raigarh district. State Government data reflects between 2013-18, around 250 people have lost their lives in man-elephant conflict. Meanwhile, the state also holds a record of death of 100 elephants in the period.
2021-03-30 - MADIKERI, India.
The elephant Kusha, which had escaped from the Dubare elephant camp over a year ago, has been recaptured by the forest department. The 29-year-old male elephant is now in the Meenukolli Reserve Forest area and will soon be shifted back to the Dubare camp with the efforts of four other tamed male elephants -- Dhananjaya, Prashantha, Sugreeva and Lakshmana
2021-03-30 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Sujit Kumar Bisoyi
As many as 843 elephants have died in Odisha in the past 10 years due to various reasons, said state forest and environment minister forest and environment minister Bikram Kesha Arukh on Tuesday.
2021-03-30 - Thrissur, India.
Popular elephant, Guruvayur Vailya Kesavan, belonging to Guruvayur Devaswom died on Monay morning. As per the official records, the elephant was 52 years old.
2021-03-19 - Pune, India.
Agigantic swimming pool has been constructed for two elephants at a zoo in Pune. The pool has been built at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Katraj. Meera and Janaki, two female elephants in the park, enjoy in the pool every single day as seen in the pictures. Tajjudin, the trainer of the two 25-year-old elephants, explained how he has been taking care, nurturing and training the animals since the past 18 years. The 55-year-old trainer said that his forefathers have been in Pune since the las...
2021-03-16 - Udhagamandalam, India.
A two-year-old female elephant calf was found dead in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). “Pug marks of a tiger were found close to the location where the carcass was found. A tiger could have attacked and killed the elephant, a forest official said.
2021-03-16 - Trichur, India.
Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, the celebrity tusker of Thrissur Pooram, will not take part in the festival vilambaram ceremony this year. Ernakulam Sivakumar owned by the Cochin Devaswom Board, will replace Ramachandran. The committee took the decision as the forest department has restricted the parading of Ramachandran. Forest department has imposed a ban on parading the elephant after it ran amok and killed two people at Guruvayur in February 2019.
2021-02-23 - Madras, India.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday opined that a uniform policy should be put in place to completely prohibit future ownership of elephants by individuals or temples and to bring all elephants under the care of the Forest Department.
2021-02-13 - COIMBATORE, India.
The two-month operation by Forest department to capture elephant Shankar bore fruit on Friday with officials capturing the 20-year-old wild tusker near Gudalur in the Nilgiris. A team of veterinarians headed by K Asokan, Forest Veterinary Officer of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, veterinarians G Vijayaragavan and K Rajeshkumar shot the tranquilizer dart at the wild elephant, which killed three persons last year, at Tenth Line at Cherampadi.
2021-02-09 - Pathanamthitta, India.
The building that houses the museum, which was originally opened in 2006 by displaying an elephant skeleton and implements associated with the training of captive elephants, was awaiting renovation for the past several years.
2021-02-08 - Thekkampatti, India.
Elephants from temples across Tamil Nadu began to descend on Sunday morning for the 48-day jumbo retreat at Thekkampatti camp on the banks of river Bhavani in Coimbatore. A pet project of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the rejuvenation camp started way back in 2003 to provide adequate rest for jumbos with nutritious food and medical treatment.
2021-02-08 - Salukapur, India.
The calf was born on February 3, more than two years after 10 elephants were translocated from Karnataka to Dudhwa tiger reserve's South Sonaripur range. Teresa is the first cow to conceive after the translocation in May 2018. Last year, a wild bull elephant who had gone 'musth' came near the camp searching for a mate. Teresa was released and returned after four days.
2021-02-08 - Jaipur , India.
The Rajasthan Government on Monday ordered the removal of 20 medically unfit elephants from tourist rides at Amer Fort in Jaipur. 3 elephants had tested positive for tuberculosis (TB), 11 elephants had one eye blind, along with other ailments for the rest of the elephants, read the release by the Rajasthan Government. The team of veterinary department at the zoo had been constantly monitoring the health of these elephants since July 2020.
2021-01-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Aameena, the wild elephant calf found near its deceased mother elephant at Kallar has been shifted to Kottoor elephant rehabilitation centre. The calf calf easily got adjusted to her new home. The mother elephant died after getting electrocuted from a metal line which passes through the forest range.
2021-01-18 - New Delhi, India.
In the video, one can clearly see the woman lying comfortably on a low bed as the elephant is standing near her and massaging her back. The video was shared by a Twitter user named Aamir on Saturday (January 16) and ever since then it has garnered thousands of views, hundreds of likes, comments and retweets. However, the location of the video is not known yet.
2021-01-18 - Guwahati, India. Sentinel Digital Desk
Amid repeated incidents of man-animal conflict being reported from different parts of Assam, a five-day training session have kick-started started in Guwahati on Monday for about 35 forest officials, mostly Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials to train them and help respond better in man-animal conflict situations. The training session is being organized by Assam Agriculture University and the College of Veterinary Science. Notably, the session was inaugurated by Assam Forest Minister Parimal S...
2021-01-17 - Aruvippuram, India.
An aggressive elephant threw its mahout away in a fit of rage resulting in his death. The second mahout identified as Kollam native Vishnu (21) died in the attack by the elephant. The incident took place on Saturday evening at Ayayil Kariyilakulangara temple. The elephant named Gowrinandan, owned by the local festival committee, turned aggressive when he was being to the temple.
2021-01-12 - COIMBATORE, India.
Apart from tourists and people in Masinagudi, those in Mavanallah, Bokkapuram, Vaalaithottam and Sigur buffer areas of the MTR, have started taking selfies with Rivaldo after parking their vehicles on the road. Apart from causing traffic congestion, it also disturbs the animal
2021-01-06 - Jaipur, India. Deep Mukherjee
Ride operators however, say that they ensure care for the elephants and that closing down the rides would be unfair to mahouts. “How is it fair for this report to say that the elephant rides should be done away with," asked Abdul Aziz, president of the Haathi Malik Vikas Samiti.
2021-01-04 - Koppala, India.
Two days after a person who was away for cattle grazing at Virupapura Gaddi Islet in Gangavathi taluk was killed by a leopard, the Forest Department officers have introduced two elephants — a male and a feminine — from Sakrebail Elephant Camp in Shivamogga district and carried out a combing operations for leopards on Sunday.
2021-01-01 - Berhampur, India.
The elephant calf, rejected by its herd in Sunapur village on the outskirts of Berhampur has been shifted to Kapilash rescue centre in Dhenkanal district. The baby elephant was part of the herd which sneaked into the locality and subsequently entered Tampara lake causing extensive damage to prawn enclosures and fishing boats. Meanwhile, the calf got stuck in marshy lake pond and suffered injuries.
2020-12-24 - Dehradun, India.
The Uttarakhand forest department on Thursday radio-collared a third elephant in the state this year and released it in a forest near Haridwar to keep track of its movement during the Maha Kumbh fair scheduled there from next month. Chief wildlife warden JS Suhag said the elephant, who is around 40-year-old, is part of a herd of around six to seven elephants that frequently ventures into human habitations.
2020-12-21 - Jamnagar, India.
Spread across 250 acres, Jamnagar in Gujarat will have one of the biggest zoos in the world in terms of number and species of animals in one place. As per details uploaded on the Central Zoo Authority, the mega zoo, to be called ”Greens Zoological Rescue and the Rehabilitation Kingdom” will be spread over 250.1 acres.
2020-12-09 - Jaipur, India.
“An amount of Rs 4.2 crore will be distributed to the caretakers of elephants (mahouts) and their families, responsible for their upkeep. The relief is for the elephant and mahouts living in Jaipur's Haathi Gaon (Elephant village). The money has been issued from the CM Relief Fund and aims to improve the condition of elephants and their caretakers. The money will be distributed through the ‘Elephant welfare fund’. Under this relief, around 95 elephants living in the elephant village will b...
2020-12-09 - Dibrugarh, India.
The carcass of a wild elephant found inside Joypur reserve forest in Assam’s Dibrugarh district last week has tested positive for Anthrax, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said Wednesday. Though the highly infectious disease caused by the bacteria called ‘Bacilhus anthracis’ had earlier been detected in cattle in the state, this is likely to be the first confirmed case of Anthrax in wild elephants in Assam. Forest officials had found the carcass of a sub-adult female aged nearly 10 years ...
2020-12-08 - Delhi, India.
Tropical Asia and Africa are the only regions on Earth that retain diverse populations of large, land-dwelling mammals, such as elephants, rhinos, and big cats. A new study co-authored by Yale researcher Advait M. Jukar suggests that the persistence of mammalian megafauna in the Indian Subcontinent is related to the great beasts’ long coexistence there with homo sapiens and other human ancestors.
2020-12-07 - Kanha, India.
THE Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has captured the elephant whose brother died of electrocution near Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh on November 27. Kanha Tiger Reserve Field Director S K Singh told The Indian Express, “The elephant was caught in Kanha range in the core area of the tiger reserve around 4 pm on Sunday.”
2020-12-02 - Athirappilly, India.
The social forestry division here has prepared a data bank on the 130 elephants in the district after detailed examination. The details such as their health conditions, treatment, details of owners and mahouts, microchip and pictures were collected. 16 elephants were identified and referred for expert treatment and care. An expert panel was formed including district chief veterinary officer Dr Usharani, Dr David Abraham and veterinary college associate professor TS Rajeev to treat these tuskers.
2020-11-28 - Byculla, India.
Byculla zoo’s oldest animal, female elephant Laxmi, died on Thursday. It was 64 years old and died due to old age complications and a chronic heart failure, said officials. Laxmi was one of the main attractions of Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo in Byculla. It was brought from Venus Circus in 1977 in an exchange programme.
2020-11-21 - , India.
Field biologist and wildlife conservation expert Ajay Adrushyappa Desai passed away in Belagavi on Thursday night. He was 62. Family sources said he suffered a heart attack in his sleep. Mr. Desai is survived by wife and two children. Fondly known as “Elephant Man”, he spent decades in the research of species specific behaviour of Asiatic elephants. He was a consultant to World Wildlife Fund and some State governments in resolving man-animal conflicts.
2020-11-13 - Bangalore, India.
20-year-old male elephant Sunder was treated to seasonal enrichment to mark the completion of its four-month-long musth period at the Bannerghatta Biological Park here on Thursday. Vanashree Vipin Singh, Executive Director, BBP, said: “Sunder successfully completed the musth period, which was a bit longer. With the onset of winter and Deepavali, we gave it rice balls laced with jaggery, watermelon, banana, maize and carrot.”
2020-11-11 - Jalpaiguri, India.
An elephant calf was rescued from near the New Mal railway station in Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri on Tuesday. Soon, a team from the Malbazar wildlife squad arrived and intercepted the calf. They tried to send it back to the forest but could not locate its herd. It has been sent to the rescue centre in Gorumara National Park, said Bibhuti Bhusan Das, range officer of the wildlife squad. This is the third elephant calf rescued in four days.
2020-11-09 - Kottoor, India.
Sreekutty was brought to the Kappukadu elephant rehabilitation centre on November 8, 2019. Staying in the Kappukadu elephant rehabilitation center in Kerala, the calf turned a year old on November 8. A grand celebration was organized for her at the center.
2020-11-09 - Dehradun, India.
The Uttarakhand government is considering denotifying the Shivalik Elephant Reserve. A senior forest department official told The Indian Express, “The state wildlife board will discuss this. That area will remain a reserve forest even after denotification as an elephant reserve. It will not make any big difference.” The official said an elephant reserve has “no legal sanctity”.
2020-11-08 - Bengaluru, India.
HM Chaitanya Swamy, DHNS, Bengaluru, NOV 08 2020, 01:34 ISTUPDATED: NOV 08 2020, 01:56 IST Police have arrested a five-member gang from Tamil Nadu that allegedly tried to sell elephant tusks on Food Street, VV Puram, and seized two tusks from them. Police filed a case under the Wildlife Act against Govindaraj, 24, Rajesh, 28, Prabhakaran, 34, Naveen, 29, and Tamil Selvan, 25, who hail from Tirupattur and Vellore districts.
2020-11-07 - Palakkad, India.
The death rate of wild elephants in Kerala is high, reveals statistics shared by the forest department. As per the 2018 census, the wild elephant population in the state is 5,706. The death rate is high, say experts. “The life expectancy of captive elephants in Kerala is 70 to 75 years while that of wild elephants is only 60 years,” said B N Anjan Kumar, technical assistant to chief wildlife warden.
2020-11-06 - Naxalbari, India. AVIJAN SAHA, SAHANA GHOSH
Elephants in north West Bengal, would earlier cross the Mechi river along the Indo-Nepal border, over to Nepal, along a regular route identified as the Mahananda-Kolabari elephant corridor. In 2016, a solar-powered fence erected by Nepal abruptly cut off the herds’ transboundary movement along this route. This northern part of West Bengal has 488 elephants spread over 1933 square km, as reported by the 2017 elephant population estimation. In 2012, the north Bengal population was ...
2020-11-06 - Kottoor, India.
With upgradation in progress, the centre will later on have around 50 elephants including the existing 16 elephants. The upgraded centre will have a veterinary hospital equipped with special facilities, an elephant museum, a training centre for mahouts, a research and study centre for students and nature lovers, an administrative office, an entrance plaza, cottages, a cafeteria, and a special elephant viewing facility.
2020-11-06 - Malayinkeezhu, India.
Tusker Vallabhan of Malayinkeezhu Sreekrishnaswamy Temple is struggling to hold his head high literally after the tusks grew longer and heavier. He is unable to take food due to the long tusks and is waiting for tusk trimming. While lying down, the tusks rub against the ground causing difficulties. Action was initiated to trim the tusks in February 2019. However, the process was stopped as the elephant was on musth.
2020-11-04 - Bengaluru, India.
A tusker died while trying to return to the forest after raiding crops in Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) on Tuesday morning. The incident came to light when a patrolling team saw the sight of the jumbo stuck between two rail barricades. Forest department officials had to cut out a portion of the barricade to free the elephant. Officials said the tusker died on the spot because of the shock and after its head hit the rail barricade. BTR director S R Natesh told TNIE that the incident happened in Mo...
2020-11-03 - Mysore, India.
Four persons including two from Kerala have been arrested by the Mysuru Forest Mobile Squad while they were trying to sell elephant tusks in city and have seized eight tusks weighing 25 kg from them. It is learnt that out of the eight tusks, six were very old and two tusks were approximately 10 years old.
2020-11-03 - Mysuru, India.
Two unidentified bikers travelling towards Anechokuru from TThithimathi observed Bhima, a tamed elephant grazing by the roadside. Their attempt to to click close-up photographs of the elephant provoked the jumbo leading to an attack.
2020-11-02 - Angul, India. KalingaTV Bureau
A 25-year-old female elephant died while undergoing treatment at Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Angul district on Monday. According to reports, a team of forest officials spotted the the ailing female elephant during their routine patrolling in the forest yesterday. A calf aged around one-and-a-half-years was also found near the sick elephant.
2020-11-01 - Guwahati, India.
Elephant safaris resumed at the Kohora range of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Upper Assam on Sunday eleven days after the park reopened for tourists last month. “We have resumed the elephant safaris this morning with only 10 elephants. The number of rides will be enhanced on the basis of the response in the coming days,” Kaziranga National Park director P. Sivakumar told the media on Sunday.
2020-10-28 - Mysuru, India.
After successful completion of Mysuru Dasara Jamboo Savari, Howdah carrier Abhimanyu and his team, left for their respective camps in the forest on Thursday. The elephants, Vikrama, Gopi, Vijaya and Kaveri, their mahouts and kavaadis left for the their respective camps in the forest on Thursday.
2020-10-27 - Mysuru, India.
Howdah elephant Abhimanyu and his team members, Gopi, Vikram, Kaveri and Vijaya, who participated in the Jumboo Savari at Mysore Palace yesterday and successfully fulfilled the responsibility given to them, were seen in a relaxed mood at the Palace this morning. Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) T. Heeralal had organised lunch for all Mahouts and Kavadis today and the five Dasara elephants will leave for their respective camps tomorrow.
2020-10-26 - Mysuru, India.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic scare, the government has decided to organise the world famous Dasara celebrations in the palace city of Mysuru in a "simple" way. Jamboo Savari, the biggest attractions of Mysuru Dasara, will be telecast live on Doordarshan Chandana and some social media platforms.
2020-10-26 - Mysore, India.
Mysuru Dasara is the “Nadahabba” or the State-Festival of Karnataka. With fairs, cultural events, dance performances and musical concerts, the ten-day festival is celebrated with pomp and pageantry. The tenth day, Vijayadashami brings a spectacular procession led by the image of the deity. Bedecked elephants, cavalry, foot soldiers, folk dancers, musicians and tableaux wend their way through the city. The extravagant celebrations come to an end with a torchlight parade as fireworks light up ...
2020-10-24 - Shivamogga, India.
The death of a 35-year-old male captive elephant 'Ranga' after being attacked by three wild elephants in a forest area near Sakrebailu elephant camp on Thirthahalli road has exposed the apathy of the officials of the forest department. The elephants 'Rajendra' and 'New Tusker' had died after being attacked by wild elephants.
2020-10-21 - New Delhi, India.
A 35-year-old elephant, named Ekadanta, passed away at Sakrebailu camp in Shivamogga. According to Sakrebailu forest officers, the death of the elephant was caused by cardiac arrest. His body was found in the Shettyhalli forest. Ekadanta was captured two years back from the forests in Sakleshpur, Hassan district.
2020-10-20 - Bhubaneswar, India.
In its bid to reduce the man-animal conflict, the Odisha government on Tuesday set up a state-level task force to prepare a master plan for the next three years, official sources said. The state level task force (SLTF) is formed under the chairmanship of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, will submit the master plan report to the government within six weeks, said Forest and Environment minister B K Arukha. Official sources said that man-elephant conflic...
2020-10-19 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India.
After more than two years, the post of wildlife veterinarian at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) has finally been filled. According to officials, Rajesh Kumar, a veterinarian from the Department of Animal Husbandry, has been posted on deputation as wildlife veterinarian in MTR. Dr. Kumar’s regular routine would be to take care of the elephants at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp.
2020-10-18 - Tirunveli, India.
A 54-year-old female elephant, Lakshmi, died at Mukoodal in the district on Sunday. The elephant was owned by one Dawood Meeran (50) of Ravanasamudram, near Ambasamudram, for the last five years. On Saturday night, he reached Muthumalai Amman Temple in Mukoodal, where a festival was scheduled on Sunday. However, in the early hours of Sunday, Meeran found the pachyderm unconscious
2020-10-18 - Bhubaneswar, India. Sudarsan Maharana
Elephant at Rs 2.5 lakh is the costliest species for adoption for a year. A State PSU like Odisha Mining Corporation has adopted 17 animals at a cost of Rs 16 lakh which include two Indian elephants and a melanistic tiger.
2020-10-17 - Lucknow, India.
The rapidly rising graph of man-animal conflicts and consequent fatalities have not only left UP’s wildlife experts but also lone elephant catcher Kamaal Sheikh, worried. Expressing concern over the scenario, the experts and foresters have recommended elephant-catching as the best possible way to curb the menace and have also approached the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF) demanding lifting of the ban on elephant catching, also known locally as ‘mela shikaar’...
2020-10-15 - Dehradun, India.
Population has increased in the state and so have man-elephant conflicts. In June, according to the elephant census conducted earlier this year, the numbers of the elephants in the state had reached 2,026. In 2012, there were 1,559 elephants, while in 2017 there were 1,839 elephants in the state.
2020-10-15 - Gonikoppa, India. Naina J A
The tamed elephants were left to graze in the forest on Tuesday night. The mahouts and kavaids spotted a severely injured Rajendra the next morning when they left for the forest to get the elephants back. The male elephant, which was brought back to camp, was being treated but succumbed to its injuries on Thursday, said RFO Y K Kiran Kumar. Rajendra was caught at the Yadavanadu forest in Somwarpet back in 1990
2020-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Mukesh Ranjan
Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday fell on the ground while performing Yoga asanas. Yoga Guru was sitting atop a well-decorate elephant and performing Yoga asanas at the Guru Shardananda Ashram. But, as the elephant moved, he lost his balance and fell on the ground.
2020-10-10 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephant Vikrama continued to train for the arduous task of carrying 750-kg golden howdah at Mysuru Palace for the second day on Friday. On Thursday, a sand-bag weighing 350 kg was tied to Vikrama, which it carried around 1.5-km around Mysuru Palace within 20 minutes along with Abhimanyu, Gopi, Cauvery and Vijaya.
2020-10-09 - Dehradun, India.
In an attempt to check the movement of wild animals into residential areas near Ganga river in Haridwar district, the Uttarakhand forest department is now using solar enabled repeller systems. These solar repellers have motion sensor system which creates a high pitch sound when activated, startling wild animals enough to send them back towards the forest. During night time, the repeller instrument also throws a sharp light towards approaching wild animals, affecting their vision.
2020-10-08 - New Delhi, India.
55-year-old Arya, a blind elephant, has finally got medical aid and veterinary care at an elephant hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Farah town on Mathura district’s border. The facility is run by the NGO Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the UP Forest Department, which claim it is India’s first and only elephant hospital.
2020-10-08 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephant Abhimanyu, which has been given the responsibility of carrying the Golden Howdah on Jumboo Savari day, began his training by carrying 350-kg sand bags which would be gradually increased so that Abhimanyu would be able to carry the 750-kg Ambari on Jumboo Savari day easily.
2020-10-07 - TRICHY, India.
According to senior temple officials, the elephant, which was recently brought from Kerala, was donated by the owner of Lakshmi Mills Company in Coimbatore. The elephant, named Lakshmi, reached the temple around 11am. The temple already has a 40-year-old elephant Andal.
2020-10-06 - Mysore, India.
With just twenty days to go for Dasara jumbo savari procession which will be held on October 26 on the Vijayadashami Day at Mysuru Palace premises, preparations went brisk with all five Dasara elephants completing third day of their training for the procession at Mysuru Palace premises in Mysuru on Monday. Meanwhile, Mysuru district administration has got insurance done for Dasara elephants, their care takers and also for public liability for a period of one month from 1 October to 31 October, d...
2020-10-05 - Idukki, India.
The baby Pincu, who was born with a weak left leg, was brought to Konni four years ago, was succesfully treated for herpes, but has been on treatment for the past nine months due to weakening of her muscles in the hind legs. Unable to stand up, he moved around the cage, his wounds sore.
2020-10-05 - Shivamogga, India.
A six-day-old baby male elephant, born with congenital limb defects last week, which got separated from its mother at the coffee estate at Malali in Sakleshpur taluk, Hassan district, has been brought to Sakrebailu elephants' camp near Shivamogga.
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.
2020-10-04 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephants that arrived in the city on Thursday have been put under strict quarantine to prevent them from catching coronavirus. So much so that they have not even been taken out for their weight test, which is an annual ritual. The forest department has dropped the procedure and is strictly against any outing for the elephants and mahouts and kavadis.
2020-10-04 - Kattakkada, India. # B Ajith Kumar
78-year-old elephant Soman from Kottur elephant rehabilitation centre is all set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest elephant. Ahead of this, the herd of elephants in the rehabilitation centre will honour Soman on Sunday.
2020-10-03 - Mysore, India. M Raghuram
Shivaraj Kumar adopted ‘Parvathi’, a female elephant at Mysore zoo, Samyukta Hornad has adopted a bear named Sugreeva, a leopard named Arjun and an elephant named Maya all from the Bannerghatta zoo. About 200 fans of the star, came together in September to adopt animals.
2020-10-02 - Mysore, India.
Housed in Rampura Elephant Camp at Bandipur, Kumki elephant Chaitra, who has participated in Dasara many times, grabbed the attention of every one and was called a ‘Super Mom’ for her role in comforting her baby, which was shown in yesterday’s webinar.
2020-10-02 - Mysore, India. Hans News Service
Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy has donated Rs 20 lakh for the upkeep of animals at Mysuru Zoo. Shivaraj Kumar visited Mysuru Zoo along with his family and met elephant Parvathi whom he has adopted recently at Mysuru Zoo. Speaking to media persons he said that he was happy that inspired by him, many of his fans too had adopted animals at Mysuru Zoo.
2020-10-01 - Bangalore, India. Arun Janardhan
Vijayakrishnan developed an academic interest in elephants. He initially wanted to get a degree in forestry, but realised it would lead to more of an administrative job. The book, Elephant Days And Nights: Ten Years With The Indian Elephant by Raman Sukumar, inspired him to pursue a research career and get a Master’s degree in wildlife biology.
2020-10-01 - Dehradun, India. Suparna Roy, Hindustan Times, Dehradun
Uttarakhand forest department authorities have initiated the process to put radio collars on five tigers, 10 elephants and 15 leopards in the hill state in a bid to study the animals’ movements and behaviorial pattern and also prevent the growing man-animal conflict.. JS Suhag, chief wildlife warden, Uttarakhand, said that the radio collar project is in progress as part of the three separate initiatives to reduce man-animal conflict and study these animals’ movement patterns.
2020-10-01 - Mysore, India.
Speaking about Dubare Elephant Camp and other Dasara elephants, mahout Dobi said that the captured rouge elephants are being tamed at the kraal in Dubare Elephant Camp. He further said that every mahout take the challenge of bringing the captured rouge elephant under their control in a month and added that every mahout take care of the elephants housed in the camp with love and affection.
2020-10-01 - Hunsur, India.
At around 11 am, the DC offered flowers to five elephants — Howdah carrying elephant Abhimanyu, Vikram, Gopi, Vijaya and Kaveri. The one and only batch of five caparisoned elephants led by Abhimanyu started their journey from the jungle camps to the Mysore Palace.
2020-09-30 - Guwahati, India. Srimoyee Chowdhury
The veterinarian’s 35-year-old association with elephants was a gradual transition as he used to have a strong affinity towards animals from an early age. Conferred Padma Shri for his outstanding contribution in the field of wildlife earlier this year, he has also been teaching at Veterinary Science at Khanapara in Guwahati.
2020-09-29 - Bopal, India.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has launched a scheme for wildlife lovers to adopt old and retired elephants which gave joyrides for at least five decades in Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve. The elephants can be adopted for a day, week, month or a year.
2020-09-28 - Bhopal, India. Manish Chandra Mishra
Elephants have migrated from Chhattisgarh to Madhya Pradesh primarily because of deforestation in their habitat. About 50 villages near Bandhavgarh National Park in M.P. are affected by an increased presence of elephants. Even as human-elephant conflict is increasing in the state, M.P. lacks the funds and knowhow required to manage the pachyderms.
2020-09-28 - Dhenkanal, India.
The Forest Department has finally freed the killer tusker into an open enclosure in Kapilash area after treating it medically and getting it tamed by an elephant trainer from Assam. Earlier, Rakesh had been a man-killer and had run amok in Talcher area following which it was tranquillized and brought to Kapilash-based Elephant Rescue Centre on January 22 this year.
2020-09-28 - Bathan, India. Staff Reporter
A week-long Elephant festival concluded at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) with medical treatment, feast, fitness and care to the jumbos on Sunday. Oldest elephant Gautam (70) was the main centre of attraction he had sandalwood decoration and oiling was done on his nails. He is giving training to other young elephants since year 1977 and also taking care of wildlife along with tiger movement. Officials of Forest Department said that most of the elephants in Bandhavgarh belong to Gautam’s gener...
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
2020-09-24 - Tahri, India. Falah Gulzar
In July 2019 the female elephant, previously named Laksmi, had made headlines after the Forest Department claimed that she was missing. Now, the rescued animal is celebrating one year of freedom after being saved by the government and a wildlife rescue organsiation in India.
2020-09-24 - Delhi, India. Diksha Singh
An initiative has been launched under the aegis of ‘Project Elephant’ which aims to allot Aadhaar cards to 2700 captive elephants across the country. The basic plan is to collect the blood and faecal samples of almost 2700 captive elephants across the country and allot them UIN on the basis of their DNA.
2020-09-22 - KOCHI, India.
An elephant calf that fell into an abandoned pit was rescued and released in the wild by the forest department on Tuesday. The herd had entered a farm land close to the forest in search of food when the calf fell in the pit.
2020-09-22 - Siliguri, India. Tarak Sarkar
The West Bengal Forest Department has taken steps to introduce rubber strips on the National Highway, state highway and the Asian Highway in the North Bengal region to control elephant deaths. The forest department has taken this initiative after a meeting headed by the state forest minister in the presence of representatives from railway, electricity, highway, tea gardens, and other related departments.
2020-09-21 - Coimbatore, India.
A 41-year-old cow elephant diedof age-related ailments at the elephant camp near Pollachi inthe district on Monday, forest officials said. The elephant Kalpana in the Kolikamuthy camp in TopSlip area had been suffering from the ailments for the lasttwo months and been under treatment, they said
2020-09-21 - Delhi, India.
India plans to build a biometric database and issue an ID number for every elephant in captivity across the country after the death of a pregnant female prompted an outcry. Blood samples will be taken from close to 3,000 elephants. Each will be given a unique identity number based on their DNA, under the plan set out by the government-backed conservation group Project Elephant.
2020-09-20 - BENGALURU, India. Bosky Khanna
On September 18, Karnataka Forest Department officials found the carcass of a juvenile elephant which had become the meal of a tiger in Bandipur Tiger Reserve’s Kundakere range. Forest officials say that while this is not rare, it is not common either. Just the previous day, a similar incident was reported in the adjoining Theppekadu range of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
2020-09-19 - BENGALURU, India. Bosky Khanna
Over 1,600 elephants are wandering in and around Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), as per an internal survey conducted by forest officials of the reserve. The survey was conducted during the lockdown and unlock period for four months, starting April. The officials followed all the protocols used when the all-India elephant census is carried out. This is the first time that an internal survey has been conducted by a team for a particular forest. As per the last all-India survey, there are 8,500 jumbo...
2020-09-14 - Udhagamandalam, India.
When they shot the video of chasing a wild elephant in a jeep and circulated the same on WhatsApp, little did 26-year-old Sujin, of Masinagudi, and his friend know that would land them in trouble. The video shows Sujin chasing the elephant in his jeep by focusing the headlight on the animal that was roaming near Masinagudi area Sigur forest range, which falls under the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The video was shot by his friend, who was sitting on the backseat of the vehicle, on Saturday night. As...
2020-09-14 - Coimbatore, India.
The forest department brought kumki elephant Suyambu to Mettupalayam forest range from the Chadivayal elephant camp on Sunday and is planning to bring kumki Venkatesh on Monday to capture an injured tusker roaming in the area.
2020-09-13 - Coimbatore, India.
Additional principal chief conservator of forests I Anwardeen has formed a technical advisory committee to protect wild elephants and to check human-elephant conflict in Coimbatore circle.The committee will support, assist and advise the forest veterinary team to deal with emerging wildlife health issues and wild animals in physical distress.
2020-09-12 - Dharmasthala, India.
The internet is simply overjoyed after watching videos of a baby elephant named Shivani. Several short clips featuring Shivani went viral on social media after her naming ceremony in Karnataka's Daramasthala.
2020-09-10 - Chennai, India. Mirror Now Bureau
A wild male elephant called "Bulldozer" was spotted with suspected gunshot wounds in Mettupalayam circle of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. More than 18 elephants have died in the circle this year.
2020-09-10 - Mysore, India.
Forest Department has begun the process of selecting the elephants to participate in this year’s Dasara festivities. Usually, the process of selecting elephants for Dasara takes place in the month of July every year and the first batch of Dasara elephants, comprising Golden Howdah-carrying elephant, one standby male elephant, two female elephants and two male elephants to be trained to carry the Golden Howdah in future, used to arrive in city before Aug. 15.
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.
2020-09-09 - Bengaluru, India.
Another wild elephant has been found dead in Kerala with injuries around its mouth, three months after a pregnant pachyderm was killed by a ‘firecracker-laced’ pineapple in the state. The elephant was found dead Wednesday near a wooden bridge at Sholayur along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Forest officials said that they had been tracking it for months as the elephant had raided homes in Attapadi.
2020-09-09 - Mysore, India. Lakshmikantha BK
An internal census conducted by the officials of forest depaartment at Bandipur Tiger Reserve indicates a rise in elephant population. The five-month long exercise to estimate the population of mega herbivores was done by examining stool samples of elephants.
2020-09-07 - Coimbatore, India. George Rajasekaran
Sixty-four elephants have died mysteriously in the forests of Tamil Nadu in the last seven months. Of these 17 died in Coimbatore forest division. Before their deaths, many of them had displayed disorientation and restless movement before they lay down, never to be revived. Eight of the 17 deaths occurred within a single forest beat – Pethikuttai in Sirumugai range.
2020-09-03 - Birpara, India.
Champakali has happily taken up the task of mothering the 7-month-old orphan elephant calf rescued from the Raidak river. The calf was rescued on Tuesday and brought to the Jaldapara National Park by foresters
2020-09-02 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
state forest department officials on Monday night seized around 19 kg of elephant tusks from a car near Bayapita village under Harichandanpur police limits in Keonjhar district. Three persons, all ivory traders, were arrested in this connection.
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.
2020-08-28 - Bangalore, India. RIA DAS
A baby elephant, born in Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Wednesday was named ‘Sudha’ after Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy. The decision was taken to acknowledge Murthy’s contributions towards wildlife conservation.
2020-08-23 - Baripada, India.
An elephant calf which got separated from its family was rescued by a team of forest officials today morning. The newborn elephant was lying in a poor condition in a farm. A team of veterinarians have also reached the spot to treat the ill calf.
2020-08-14 - ITANAGAR, India.
A two- to three-month-old male elephant calf was rescued from the Toru forest range under the Sagalee forest division on Friday afternoon. The rescued baby elephant was handed over to Itanagar Biologial Park Curator Raya Flago in the evening for medical treatment and rehabilitation, the RFO informed.
2020-08-02 - Bangalore, India.
Twelve-year-old female elephant Rupa has given birth to the baby of a male elephant at Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka on Saturday. This was the second child given by Rupa, it gave birth to a female child at the age of 8 in 2016. With this calf, the current elephant population is 24 in BBP Park.
2020-02-10 - Bangalore, India.
A newborn elephant calf at Bengaluru Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBBP) has been named after Padma Shri recipient Tulsi Gowda, who has planted over one lakh trees. The female calf Tulsi a new member to the BBP family, was born on January 30 to the 13-year-old elephant Vanashree. Both mother and calf are doing well.
2020-01-21 - Kottor, India. Aathira Haridas
At the elephant rehabilitation centre in Kottoor, one among the few elephant rehabilitation centres in the state, a major shift to creating a more pachyderm-friendly space is being spearheaded by Satheesan N V, deputy warden at the Agasthyavanam Biological Park (ABP).
2019-12-30 - Kottor, India. Haritha John
Shasthamkotta Neelakantan, a tusker of Sree Dharma Sastha temple in Kollam district of Kerala, died at the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre at Kottur. He had been struggling, battling pain from multiple wounds and on Saturday morning, the tusker succumbed to his injuries.
2019-10-31 - Golaghat, India.
A a herd of 50-60 elephants heading for the tea estate changed its path when they saw a life size dummy giraffe. “We have installed three giraffes made of fiber in our tea estate last week as a measure to protect our crops from elephants,” said Utpal Goswami, the manager at the Dolaguri Tea Estate in Golaghat’s Letekujan area.
2019-10-20 - Mysore, India.
This Dasara, the Mysuru zoo attracted more visitors, improving its revenue. In a span of 10 days, 1.65 lakh people visited the zoo and the gate revenue realised was 1.59 crore. A record number of tourists visited the zoo on the day of Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami, which were public holidays. A total of 30,273 people came on Ayudha Puja and 28,386 on Vijayadashami, realising a revenue of 29.27 lakh and 28.28 lakh respectively. This is the biggest earnings for the zoo in a single day
2019-10-13 - Sastamkotta, India.
Even after expert therapy at Kottur Elephant Rejuvenation Centre, the health of ‘Gajaveeran’ Neelakandan of Sastamkotta Dharmashatha temple remains the same. The elephant was sent to the rehabilitation centre for therapy on July 15 following a High Court order. Vets claim that although the external injuries that the elephant sustained has healed to an extent, there is not much progress in his overall health.
2019-09-20 - Yamunanagar, India.
National Capital's last elephant, Lakshmi, who was rescued from near East Delhi recently, was sent to a rehabilitation center in Haryana on Friday morning. At present, this center is taking care of five elephants including Lakshmi. "She is the fifth elephant here.
2019-09-18 - Delhi, India.
The 47-year-old elephant, Laxmi, was sent to an elephant rescue centre in Ban Santour in Haryana around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, according to officials of forest department. The elephant which had been missing for the last two months was rescued and its mahout was arrested by Delhi Police on late Tuesday night from east Delhi.
2019-09-11 - Bengaluru, India. Rohith BR
The forest department’s experiment to radio-collar select wiwild elephants in Hassan to track their movements and address conflict with humans has paid off. AK Singh, chief conservator of forests, Hassan, recently said six mother elephants are being monitored in his jurisdiction.
2019-08-29 - Delhi, India. Rishika Pardikar
If you go by the country’s first ever synchronised Elephant Census conducted in 2017, there are 27,312 elephants across 23 states. The 10-year project to develop an immunocontraceptive was approved in 2017, with a budget of Rs10 crore. According to Vinod Mathur, the director of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the nodal agency for the project, it will “soon be implemented on a pilot basis in a phased manner”.
2019-07-04 - COIMBATORE, India. Wilson Thomas
Kumki elephants Suyambu (24) and Venkatesh (32) from Anamalai Tiger Reserve will be shifted to Chadivayal camp of Coimbatore Forest Division. The two will replace kumkis Cheran (32) and John (27) of Chadivayal camp, who will be sent to Theppakkadu in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Cheran and John were shifted from Theppakkadu to Chadivayal in April last year.
2018-06-12 - Pathanamthitta, India.
Despite fierce protest by the local legislator, a tusker at the eco-tourism centre at Konni was despatched to faraway Muthanga by the wildlife department so that it could be trained as a 'kumki'
2017-10-14 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Saturday announced the death of Ashwathama, a male elephant aged about eight years
2017-08-16 - Delhi, India. Aathira Perinchery
Preliminary results from the first-ever synchronised all-India Elephant Population Estimation pegs India’s Asian elephant population at 27,312. According to the report, released by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on August 12, Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054).
2017-07-27 - Bangalore, India.
According to the Bannerghatta Police Station sub inspector Naveen, 27-year-old Abhilash, had entered the park illegally and tried to click a selfie with the elephant Sundar. The 27-year-old man had allegedly illegally entered the Bannerghatta Biological Park after consuming alcohol.
2017-03-15 - Hassan, India.
Staff of the Forest Department, with the help of tamed elephants, successfully captured a wild elephant that is suspected to have recently trampled two people to death in Alur and Sakaleshpur taluks on Tuesday. A team of tamed elephants — Abhimanyu, Arjun, Krishna and Harsha — reached the camp at Magadihalli, set up to handle the capture, on Monday evening. The watchers and forest guards were following the movement of the animal and they traced it at noon. The operation, which bega...
2017-03-13 - Hassan, India.
With the increase in elephant attack cases in Alur and Sakleshpur taluks, the district forest officials have sent a proposal to their department heads seeking approval to capture 26 elephants roaming around there. The Deputy Conservator of Forests of Hassan has sent a request to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) to take up the operation.
2017-03-12 - Wokha, India.
One major factor forcing elephants to venture uphill to the middle and upper reaches of Wokha district is being attributed to fragmentation of their old habitats in Assam. With most of their habitats destroyed due to human encroachment and leaving them without food or home, the elephants are dramatically expanding their range and getting pushed up to the hills from Assam, Steve Odyuo, founder of Natural Nagas, an NGO working for wildlife and environment conservation said.
2017-03-12 - , India.
Elephant poaching in Kerala grabbed national headlines a year ago after poachers confessed they had killed around 20 elephants. However, data from the Forest Department reveals there is a bigger threat to elephants in the state than poaching—man-animal conflict.
2017-03-05 - Bhubhaneswar, India.
On the outskirts of Bhubhaneswar city, a herd of elephants has become refugees. They left the intensely disturbed Chandaka sanctuary, and tried to move towards other forest patches. However, human activity has now surrounded the elephants. Videos show how people chase the hapless animals, who seem to be only wanting to cross roads and fields
2017-02-26 - NAINITAL, India.
Nine elephants from the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka reached the Corbett Tiger Reserve on Saturday after a journey of more than 2700 km. The elephants had started on their journey by road on Tuesday in a convoy of seven trucks accompanied by 16 mahouts. "The elephants will stay in an interim facility for three months during which they will get acclimatised to the new climate .
2017-02-26 - New Delhi, India.
The Central Zoo Authority has “fully backed†a proposal to ban the use of elephants in circuses, a fading remnant of pre-liberalisation India. The CZA has written to the chief wildlife wardens of the states to ensure the rehabilitation of the elephants which were in their possession. “The Central Zoo Authority fully supports proposal to stop use of elephants to perform in circuses,†member secretary of the CZA D N Singh has written to the Environment Ministry.
2017-02-22 - Trichur, India.
We tested 3 wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in southern India and confirmed infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an obligate human pathogen, by PCR and genetic sequencing. Our results indicate that tuberculosis may be spilling over from humans (reverse zoonosis) and emerging in wild elephants.
2017-02-22 - New Delhi, India.
Postmortem examination of a wild Asian elephant at Rajiv Gandhi National Park, India, revealed nodular lesions, granulomas with central caseation, and acid-fast bacilli in the lungs. PCR and nucleotide sequencing confirmed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study indicates that wild elephants can harbor M. tuberculosis that can become fatal.
2017-02-01 - SHIVAMOGGA, India. Ramachandra V Gunari
Karnataka’s seniormost elephant died on Monday, at the ripe old age of 82. Indira died of natural causes at the Sakrebailu elephant camp, her home for the past almost 50 years. Indira was the grande dame of the Sakrebailu elephant camp, loved by all and known to have tamed many a wild elephant brought here over the past many decades. Indira herself had been captured in a khedda operation from Kakanakote forest in the Western Ghats in 1968.
2017-01-29 - Bhubaneswar, India.
After an annual review meeting of the Forest and Environment department under chairmanship of the Chief Secretary at the State Secretariat here, Suresh Mohapatra, secretary of the department, said, “With two months left for the 2016-17 financial year to get over, 41 elephant deaths have been reported in the State so far which is considerable fall in comparison to 65-70 elephant death cases reported in the last four years on an average.â€
2017-01-02 - Pune, India.
John Mathew, manager of Rambo Circus, said, “Seven mahouts, who took care of the four elephants at the Rambo Circus, have also shifted to Jamnagar with additional staff and a veterinarian."Saraswati and Champa were shifted to Jamnagar in September, Anar and Nitya moved two weeks ago as their transit permit was awaited.
2016-12-28 - , India.
According to the AWBI, Lakhsmi and Ramabhadran, two elephants of the Thiruvambadi Devaswom, and Thiruvegappuram Devanarayanan (Kattakada Abhimanyu), owned by a private individual, are suffering from serious ailments and should be subjected to mercy killing to end their sufferings.
2016-12-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Eyeing the Guinness Book honour for the oldest living Asian elephant in captivity, 86-year-old Chenkalloor Dakshayani, would soon get a chain-free spacious enclosure.
2016-12-08 - RAIPUR, India.
A herd of wild elephants with its young ones ventured into Ambikapur town, district headquarters of Sarguja district in North Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.Later, the herd entered a school group and stayed there. Forest department swung into action and erected barricades to check further movement of elephants in the town and they are under surveillance.
2016-12-07 - COIMBATORE, India.
It is that time of the year when all the temple elephants in the district are brought to Thekkampatti for a 40-day rejuvenation camp. The camp begins in December-end or January.
2016-12-07 - Konni , India.
A one-year-old elephant calf died of viral infection at the Konni elephant training centre. The calf Ammu was suffering from Elephant Endotheliotrop. Ammu was in the news recently after Forest Minister K Raju came to the camp for her naming ceremony
2016-12-04 - Mysore, India.
It was a great honour to Karnataka Forest Department as its elephants captured and tamed by experts from the state are now on demand from other states in the country.Forest department sources told UNI that 12 of these tamed elephants will be sent to Uttarakhand. The elephants have been selected from Bannerghatta, Mathigodu, Dodda Harave and Dubare elephant camps.
2016-12-01 - Ranchi, India.
In a bizarre event people of four families have been forced to live on trees due to the fear of elephants that have gone wild near Ranchi, Jharkhand. Villagers are living in fear since then and have been forced to live on trees in order to protect themselves from the rampant elephants. As per the reports, some families living in Loharatola village in Bundu, around 45 km from Ranchi, have shifted on trees after elephants destroyed their houses.
2016-11-29 - New Delhi, India.
As many as 213 persons have been killed in elephant attack in Odisha in the last three years from 2013 to 2016, said Environment, Forest and Climate Change minister Anil Madhav Dave answering an unstarred question raised by BJD parliamentarian Narendra Kumar Swain on Monday.
2016-11-28 - New Delhi, India.
Number of human deaths due to tiger attacks has gradually been declining, but there is no let up in the casualties due to elephant attacks in India. In both the cases, West Bengal has suffered the maximum human casualties in the past three years.
Famed temples in south India such as Kerala´s Guruvayoor, which parade richly-decorated jumbos during festivals like Pooram, may lose them forever. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has written to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) asking for such religious institutions ´Which keep wild animals in captivity´ be categorised as zoos.
2016-11-27 - Palakkad, India.
A male wild elephant which was hit by a train on the B line at the Walayar Pudussery section just past Kanjikode succumbed to the injuries on Sunday. The passenger train from Palakkad town Tiruchirapalli (Train No. 56712) hit the 25-year old elephant at around 8km from Palakkad (towards Coimbatore) on Sunday 7.10 AM on the B line.
2016-11-26 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A rogue tusker, which had strayed from the adjoining Chandaka wildlife sanctuary, wreaked havoc in the elephant safari at Nandankanan zoo here, injuring two resident elephants on Thursday night. The two injured elephants are Basanti and Chandan - one female and the other a male. The tusker entered the safari through a gap in the fencing.
2016-11-26 - Dehradun, India.
Raja, Radha and Rangeela, three elephants at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, are all set for the elephant safari that is now being resumed at Rajaji after nine years. Raja is a male elephant while Radha and Rangeela are females. Arundhati, a famous female safari elephant at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, then Rajaji National Park, which died in 2007 after it was injured while on patrol.
2016-11-25 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A wild elephant destroyed 20 feet of the boundary wall of Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in the wee hours of Friday and attacked two elephants at the zoo. According to sources, the security personnel at NZP were able to scare away the animal using lights and noise makers. Two zoo elephants – Chandan and Basanti –sustained minor injuries in the attack.
2016-11-25 - Bangalore, India.
Faced with growing human-elephant conflict, Karnataka is desperate to gift surplus elephants in its captivity, to states where their population is sparse. It has exhorted other states to adopt the captive elephants, reeling under food and water shortage. There are roughly 200 jumbos housed in the state´s four elephant camps, captured by the forest department after reports of rogue behaviour, raiding crops and killing people.
2016-11-24 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
At 86, Dakshayani shows few signs of aging and looks absolutely fit and graceful as she gets all set all set to enter the Guinness World Records as the oldest-living elephant in the world. The elephant is with the Chengalloor Temple in Poojappura
2016-11-24 - Thrissur, India.
Wednesday was a sad day for elephant lovers in Kerala. Two of their favorite pachyderms, Ithithanam Guruvayoorappan and Valiyaveettil Manikandan, died just hours apart owing to illness. Both the jumbos were star attractions of temple festivals across the state.
2016-11-24 - Wayanad, India.
A wild tusker that had troubled villagers in Wayanad has been caught after a massive operation. The operation started after a government order to capture the elephant was issued. It was shot with tranquilizers when it came out of the forest.
2016-11-23 - Mathigodu, India.
The Mathigodu Elephant Camp has been facing water and fodder shortage. Two months ago, the camp, where rogue elephants are tamed, had 35 jumbos but now only 25 have been left behind as the remaining are relocated to Kallalla camp. The waterbody at the camp has gone dry while the one inside the forest nearby is filled with silt making the water unfit for consumption and insufficient for bathing elephants.
2016-11-12 - GUWAHATI, India.
The two-day Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) meet - which saw the participation of elephant experts from five countries - ended here on Friday. The meet collated country-based inputs on the status of wild and captive Asian elephants in their habitats.
2016-10-29 - Mumbai, India.
After Rupa, an elephant belonging to Sabha Shankar Pandey, passed away last week at Goregaon’s Film City where she had been brought for a photo shoot, experts have raised concern about the health and care of Lakshmi, Pandey’s other elephant.
2016-10-27 - Karwar, India.
Ever seen a baby elephant cry? It can melt the hardest of hearts. A 90-day-old calf, which got separated from its herd and was rescued by forest officials, wept when it was put into a truck to be sent to the elephant camp at Sakrebail.
2016-10-25 - KOTTAYAM, India.
At a time when the temples are competing each other by parading more number of elephants during festivals, a temple near here has put an end to this practice. The Governing body of the temple in its meeting held the other day approved the decision to replace the elephant with the chariot.
2016-10-24 - Mumbai, India.
In the wake of the death of an elephant that was hired for a photoshoot in Goregaon’s Film City, the Plant & Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) wrote to the Aarey police demanding that it book its owner Sabha Shankar Pandey, the organisers and the Film City management.
2016-10-10 - Mysore, India.
After a rigorous rehearsal, Arjuna is ready to carry the golden howdah weighing 750 kg. He will be accompanied by 11 other elephants — Balarama, Abhimanyu, Gajendra, Kaveri, Vijaya, Vikrama, Gopi, Prashanth, Durgaparameshwari, Harsha and Gopalaswamy.
2016-10-10 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The tusker was the 18th captive elephant to die in the state in the last nine months. According to Heritage Animal Task Force secretary V.K. Venkitachalam, who keeps record of elephant torture and deaths, the number of deaths this year is a record. “Never before has this happened.
2016-10-01 - Mysore, India.
Mysuru Dasara is the Nadahabba (State-Festival) of the state of Karnataka in South West India. It is also called Navaratri (Nava-ratri = nine-nights) and is a 10-day festival, celebrated with utmost pomp and gaiety in the city of Mysuru. The Dasara festivities have a very long and rich history of more than 400 years.
2016-08-02 - Havelock Island, India.
Rajan, the legendary elephant whom you could swim along with in the ocean off the Andaman islands, has passed away at the age of 66. A star attraction at Barefoot Resort at Havelock Island, Rajan came to be in the possession of the owners of the resort, after they took him under their care when he was left sick and stranded on the island in 2004, after his owner could not pay to ship him to a nearby island after a film shoot.
2016-08-02 - Aurangabad, India.
The animal is likely to be shifted within the next 10-15 days.On August 1, 1996, the city zoo authorities brought a couple of elephants (male Shankar and female Swaraswati) from Mysore to the Siddhartha Garden and Zoo. The team had also reviewed the zoo in Aurangabad and felt that the space provided to the animals was not enough.
2016-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
The common forum of Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi devaswoms has denied charges of cruelty to elephants during Thrissur Pooram. “Elephants with wounds or swellings were not paraded for the Pooram,†a joint statement of the devaswoms said. It added that only those elephants with fitness certificates issued by the forest and animal husbandry departments were used for the event.
The Kerala State Animal Welfare Board (KSAWB) has come up against the statement of the Animal Husbandry Department refuting the allegation that elephants were subjected to cruelty during Thrissur Pooram celebrations. In a press release here on Friday, M.N. Jayachandran, Member, Kerala State Animal Welfare Board, alleged that the Thrissur Animal Husbandry officer was trying to misguide people with false information and was trying to protect the festival organisers.
2016-04-30 - ROURKELA, India.
Panic gripped Sector-22 of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), located on the southern tip of the city, when a herd of seven elephants strayed into the area and damaged boundary walls of two buildings on Wednesday night. The herd was staying in Sonaparvat Reserve Forest (RF) for the last 45 days and used to frequent the connecting Bijay Sagar reservoir of IDL Explosives plant for water.
2016-04-04 - Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
The conference programme will address all aspects of elephant culture, past, present and future and in all continents. It will deal with both material and cultural concerns, and will cover both the Indian and the African elephant.
2016-03-16 - New Delhi, India.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said eight elephants were killed in 2014015 and 391 humans were killed by elephants. Nearly 400 people have died during 2014-15 due to human-elephant conflict in various parts of the country, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
2016-02-04 - Pookode, India.
An international workshop on Asian elephants and tigers being held at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) headquarters at Pookode stressed the need for more research on diseases affecting the animals. The four-day programme is being organised by the Centre for Wildlife Studies under KVASU in association with the Department of Forests and Wildlife.
2016-01-10 - Pathanamthitta, India.
According to the Heritage Animal Task Force, a total of 14 people died in Kerala last year due to elephant attacks. Among these, 9 people were mahouts The committee, which was formed to provide guidelines to avoid such attacks, has not submitted any report
2016-01-08 - COIMBATORE, India.
Eye witnesses say, a herd of four wild elephants including a male, a female and two cubs, came near the elephant camp on Thursday early morning. At that time, the camp elephants were taking shower and the mahouts who saw the herd raised alarm. Suddenly, the male elephant separated from the herd and began to chase the temple elephants. Immediately, mahouts took the temple elephants to a safer location.
2016-01-08 - Palani, India.
Sri Dhandayuthapaniswamy temple administration here on Wednesday sent the temple elephant Kasturi to rejuvenation camp at Mettupalayam on Wednesday. After special pujas, the 49-year-old elephant, weighing 4,600 kg, boarded the lorry on Wednesday morning. Officials from HR&CE, Forest and Revenue Departments were present. Earlier, veterinary doctors checked the health condition of Kasturi. She was fit to travel, said veterinary doctor Rajendran. Kasturi had won the first prize in a competition hel...
2016-01-08 - Krishnagiri, India.
A 12-year-old female elephant was found dead on Wednesday in a forest in Tamil Nadu´s Krishnagiri district. This incident took place on a day when temple elephants came to Coimbatore and the Nilgiris for a rejuvenation camp. Authorities have conducted a post-mortem and have sent the samples for analysis. "We suspect the adolescent elephant might have been a victim of violent mating," said Mr Rajendran, District Forest Officer.
2015-11-17 - Dhenkanal, India.
Two elephants were found dead under the Sadangi range last week. Though Forest officials declined to disclose about reasons behind death of elephants but poachers are suspected to be active in the reserve forest. Forest officials said they have intensified the patrolling but locals dispute this saying they have rarely found forest officials camping or patrolling in the area
2015-11-17 - Raipur, India.
A drought-hit farmer in Chhattisgarh´s tribal Jashpur district died of a heart attack aftera herd of 40 elephants destroyed and fed on all his leftover crops on his eight-acre land, a few days ago. The matter came to light on Tuesday after district Congress raised the issue and claimed the forest department had not paid compensation to the family.
2015-11-17 - Cochin, India.
Gireeshan, one of the senior elephants of Cochin Devaswom Board, died on Monday. According to Devaswom Board sources, the elephant died due to old-age ailments. It was 80 years old. Gireeshan, which collapsed at the Kokkarni compound of the Devaswom on October 26, didn’t recover after that. It was undergoing treatment for almost one year for various ailments, under the guidance of veterinary doctor V. Sunil Kumar. The body was cremated at Kodanad.
2015-11-17 - Bengaluru, India.
Chaitra, the elephant in the Bandipur camp who had been shackled ever since she gave birth to her 10th calf, has finally been freed. Following the publication of a report Forest dept forced heavily pregnant jumbo into Dasara in Deccan Herald on November 13, Conservator of Forests and Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve B B Mallesh is learnt to have given directions to unchain the elephant and let her mingle with the other jumbos
2015-11-16 - Jorhat, India.
Expressing concern over the rising incidents of man-elephant conflict on both the banks of the mighty Red River, Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar today said that he had taken personal initiative to release funds for undertaking compensatory afforestation in an effort to provide necessary fodder for the marauding elephants.
2015-11-15 - Umaria, India.
It took an 65-year-old elephant called Gotham to capture a TV first in this week´s episode — and here´s how the feat was achieved. “We only had access to the elephant for half of the morning,†says Hughes. “The animal welfare rule was that it could work until mid-morning and then it had to go back to its house and have a nice bath and something to eat. So we had only this window in the morning, but it still managed to work.â€
2015-11-13 - Jorhat, India.
Hundreds of villagers blocked NH-37 at Kakojan in Jorhat district on Thursday in protest against the forest department´s failure to curb the menace of wild elephants in more than 100 villages. The mob raised slogans against the government and the state forest department demanding immediate steps to prevent elephant menace in their villages.
A man was killed and five others were seriously injured by a herd of wild elephants at Jhanjimukh area in Assam´s Jorhat district, a police officer said. Pursaram Choudhury (55) and the five others had last night gone to chase a herd of marauding jumbos that had been roaming in the area for past 15 days destroying farmland, the officer said.
The New Ram Terang Village was dedicated to the memory of Mark Shand. Ruth Powys, CEO, Elephant Family said, “An entire new village comes to fruition. We have solved a problem both for elephants and people. Elephant Family is proud to be part of this venture. I can feel that Mark is with us today. Now, every child can play here without danger, and every elephant can move without conflict.â€
2015-11-13 - Vizianagaram, India.
A herd of elephants damaged two acres of paddy field at Karakavalasa village of LN Pet mandal in the early hours of Thursday. The pachyderms are frequently entering the paddy and sugarcane fields in LN Peta, Sithampeta, Veeraghattam and other places. District Forest Officer Ch. Shanti Swaroop sent elephant trackers and asked the staff to submit a detailed report on the damage so that the compensation would be paid to the farmers.
2015-11-12 - SHILIONG, India.
A Garo tribal woman was trampled to death by wild elephants in Meghalaya´s West Garo Hills district, an official said on Thursday. Walji M. Sangma was killed on Wednesday in the forest area in Selbalgre village in the outskirts of Tura while she was collecting firewood, District Magistrate Pravin Bakshi told IANS. Tura is the district headquarters of West Garo Hills.
2015-11-12 - Bengaluru, India.
Eleven tuskers, who have been gorging on a buffet of cultivated crop in Nelamangala, have kept forest officials on their toes for over a month. While the department is attempting to drive the elephants back to the forests, what is noteworthy is that villagers are being trained to deal with the conflict – a move that has perhaps led to minimal casualties in the area.
2015-11-11 - New Delhi, India.
Maneka´s NGO People For Animals runs a rehabilitation centre for jumbos, billed as the country´s only such facility built on private initiative. The Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura was set up in 2010 and is now home to 18 elephants, most of them blind, lame, crippled or abandoned.
2015-11-10 - Jalpaiguri, India.
The Forest Rangers seized five elephant tusks and a part of a rhino horn during a raid in West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri city on Tuesday. Acting on a tip-off, the Forest Rangers conducted a raid in Malbazar area of the city. Five men were also arrested on charges of smuggling.
2015-11-10 - Panbari, India.
A clinic for elephants of the northeast was inaugurated at the upcoming Mark Shand Memorial Learning Centre by Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Founding Patron of the UK based charity Elephant Family and its CEO Ruth Powys in the presence of distinguished guests and a colourful audience from the neighbouring villages.
2015-11-10 - New Delhi, India.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests is proposing to immunise female elephants with contraceptives in West Bengal and Odisha to control increase in their population in an attempt to avoid human-elephant conflict. “Immuno-contraception is a technique of contraception, which induces hormonal changes in female elephants. So far, this technique has not been tried on Asian elephants, but the model has been quite successful in African elephants,†said a senior Union Environment Ministry...
2015-11-10 - Dhenkanal, India.
Forest department officials today recovered a carcass of an elephant calf from Ganesh Khol forested area under Sarangi range in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district. Two persons have been injured by the mother of the dead calf. The injured are the local forester Sagramani and a photographer.
2015-11-09 - Kochi, India.
In a serious lapse on the part of the State Government, the much touted Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules - 2012, framed for preventing abuse of elephants, was not tabled in the Assembly before being notified as a rule. Replying to an RTI query, the State Information Officer stated that the examination carried out by the Information Commission had showed that there was no record to prove that the Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules-2012 (SRO No ...
2015-11-09 - BENGALURU, India.
With the elephant population relatively stable and reaching saturation point in many reserves, the focus had shifted to habitat management – that is, creation of water and food sources within National Parks to prevent elephants from venturing to the veritable buffet of cultivated crops that lie in the plains outside. However, do elephants frequent these spots? A study by researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences and Wildlife Conservation Society point to the contrary.
2015-11-09 - Jorhat, India.
Suggesting pragmatic measures to arrest the occasional death and destruction inflicted by herds of marauding wild elephants on both the banks of the Brahmaputra here, ‘Forest Man of India’ Jadav Payeng has mooted largescale plantation of fig, banana and bamboo in the vast sandbars of the mighty Red River, as he claimed to have achieved good results from such experimental forestry in a sandbar near Aruna Sapori within Jorhat district.
2015-11-07 - Siruvani, India.
Masini, who was orphaned in 2007, has all along been in the Mudumalai Elephant Camp and is used to cool conditions. When it left the Mudumalai camp last week, after the government decided to give the elephant to the Samayapuram Mariamman Temple, the staff at the camp bid adieu to the friendly calf.
2015-11-06 - Bardhaman, India.
A herd of wild elephants raided Pursha village under Galsi police station in Burdwan district killing a man and injuring his wife besides damaging several houses, DFO Ajay Das said today. Nanulal Soren (64) and his wife Phulmani were sleeping on the verandah last night when an elephant trampled them. While Nanulal died, Phulmani was under treatment in hospital, Das said.
2015-11-05 - KOCHI, India.
Supply of elephants — those bling-bedecked pachyderms that take pride of place at the state´s numerous temple festivals — to Kerala could be drying up. That´s because trade in the large mammals has been banned at the annual Sonepur cattle fair in Bihar, the biggest source for the creatures in recent years.
2015-11-05 - GUWAHATI, India.
Human migration may remain a contentious issue between India and Bangladesh, but not for elephants. The two countries are working with their respective external affairs and home affairs ministries to ensure that jumbos can cross the international boundary with ease. "We (India and Bangladesh) are cooperating on trans-boundary conservation of elephants.
2015-11-05 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Kerala has taken on a jumbo project: elephants in the state will soon have the luxury of ´ambulance´ service to transport sick and injured jumbos. For the first time, the state forest department has launched an animal ambulance, a specially designed vehicle for elephants, at the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary (WWS), a paradise for wild jumbos in north Kerala.
2015-10-20 - New Delhi, India.
According to a study, over 50% of Indian elephants are dying before puberty. To discuss the matter, a two-day international symposium on ´Ecology and Health Management of Asiatic Elephant´ will be organized in the national capital.
2015-09-24 - Odisha, India.
The elephant population in Odisha continues to rise and so do cases of man-elephant conflict. Even though the government claims to have spent crores under various projects to avert such conflict, 660 men and women have lost their lives in past 10 years.
2015-07-01 - Bangalore, India.
An elephant calf, a baby hippopotamus and 72 rescued black-spotted terrapins are among the new attractions. The female calf was born in BBP 10 days ago to elephant Suvarna. With this, the number of female elephants at BBP has increased to 12.
2015-05-02 - INDORE, India.
Pall of gloom descended on Indore zoo following the death of 45-year-old female elephant Champa, barely two weeks after she was shifted to its new home on the zoo premises, on Friday late night.
2015-04-20 - CUTTACK, India.
Athagarh forest division has chalked out elaborate measures to ensure an error-free elephant census. It will be carried out from May 26 to 28. Official sources said forest officers will sight the pachyderms and record their population from 37 watchtowers to be built across the division.
2015-04-18 - New Delhi, India.
Justice Madan B. Lokur of Social Justice Bench of Supreme Court on Friday didn´t take up the public interest litigation petition filed against preventing cruelty to elephants by parading them in temple festivals and in other places. However, Justice Lokur transferred the case to Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant.
2015-04-15 - New Delhi, India.
Elephants have been kept on the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi for hundreds of years but the changing environment of the city and mounting pressure from animal welfare activists look set to consign this ancient way of life to the history books. On Friday, India’s Supreme Court is expected to reach a decision on banning the use of captive elephants in religious functions, processions and other events.
2015-04-15 - Ludhiana, India.
In a macabre incident, an elephant went berserk and repeatedly thrashed a 4-year-old boy to death with his trunk on the road in the Grain market situated on the Gill road here today, police said. According to police and eyewitness accounts the elephant was escorted by four persons who were moving on the road with the purpose of collecting money and food from the people. The boy was identified as Vickky, son of a slum dweller.
2015-04-15 - Borjora, India.
50-year-old Swapan Bauri was cycling back home in Baguli village after attending ´Gajan´ or ´Charak Puja´ festivities in Kandashole village when he was chased by two male elephants. One of the pachyderms lifted him by his trunk and then trampled him to death at Kadashole, Borjora Forest Ranger, Mohan Chandra Shit said today.
2015-04-12 - Wayanad, India.
A wild tusker on Saturday morning attacked Kunjan, 55, of Cholangadi, near Aanappara, in the Tholpetty range of forests under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The tusker destroyed his house. Mr. Kunjan was admitted to the District Hospital at Mananthavady with serious injuries. His nine-year-old daughter escaped the tusker attack. The elephant also partially destroyed the house of Raju Cholangadi and a cattle shed of Raju Aranappara, the villagers said.
2015-04-11 - Guwahati, India.
In the last six years, Assam has lost more than 40 elephants to poisoning, electrocution, train accidents and bullet injuries. This gruesome man-animal conflict is only likely to worsen unless drastic measures are taken by the state authorities. Since 1987, more than 150 elephants have been killed in rail accidents across the country, many of them in Assam.
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.
2015-04-09 - Raipur, India.
Terror prevailed at Korba forest region when three women were trampled to death at two separate spots by a herd of elephants on Sunday. This is tenth death reported due to tusker attack in four months in northern Chhattisgarh, officials said.
2015-04-09 - Mysore, India.
The congregation of elephant herds at the Kabini backwaters has begun to unfold, much to the delight of wildlife enthusiasts and tourists. An annual phenomena which peaks during summer, scores of elephants have been sighted at Kabini backwaters in the last couple of days. Their numbers are expected to increase in the weeks ahead.
2015-04-09 - Guruvayur, India. Mary-Rose Abraham
The unique sanctuary in the state of Kerala, India, is called Anakotta (“Elephant Fortâ€) and houses 58 elephants. They make their home on the grounds of a former royal palace and belong, quite literally, to God. The sanctuary is managed by the Guruvayur Temple, one of the most prominent Hindu shrines in India. And each elephant is a devotional offering to its presiding deity, Lord Krishna.
2015-04-09 - Assam, India.
To reduce tea crop losses and prevent man-elephant conflict, four tea estates of Assam will soon be "bio-fenced" with thickets of thorny bamboos. Under a strategic partnership to prevent and manage man-elephant conflict, Apeejay Tea has tied up with the World Wildlife Fund to make a series of interventions and also calculate the amount of damage caused by the pachyderms. Dipankar Ghose, Director (Species & Landscape) WWF-India, said on an average 400 people get killed in India each year in confl...
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.
2015-04-03 - Coxs Bazar, India.
Two people, including a Border Guard Bangladesh member, were trampled to death by wild elephants in Cox´s Bazar and Chittagong yesterday. The BGB man was identified as Lance Nayak Habibur Rahman, 44, who hailed from Jhalakathi, reports our Cox´s Bazar correspondent. Commander of BGB-17 Battalion in Cox´s Bazar Col Khalequzzaman said Habibur was killed after three wild elephants attacked a BGB team which had gone to Himchhari Shampan Hill area in Ramu upazila around 2:00am...
2014-09-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The death of a two-year-old elephant in Wayanad forest in Kerala is suspected to be due to herpes, a deadly infectious disease. Samples of the male calf´s carcass has been sent to Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences College in Pookkot in Wayanad for analysis and confirmation to ascertain if herpes virus was the cause of the death, a senior faculty of the college said.
2014-09-08 - Bhopal, India.
Madhya Pradesh forest department would soon be getting nine elephants from their Karnataka counterpart to expand its almost 50-strong pachyderm population used for monitoring tigers and patrolling in the various tiger reserves in the state, official said on Sunday.
2014-05-06 - Bangalore, India.
Sources told Express that the Forest Department had not kept its promise to release more money towards feeding those pachyderms and the additional burden has fallen on the zoo. The zoo required just three to four elephants for display purposes, but it has 15 elephants. Maintaining them has become a big problem.
2014-05-05 - Pune, India.
The adoption of elephants, as part of the Katraj zoo adoption scheme, contributed to a major chunk of the money raised through this scheme last year. The zoo raised Rs 5.55 lakh in 2013, the second highest amount collected since the scheme´s launch in 2010. It costs Rs 45,000 a month to care for an elephant and last year, the elephants were adopted several times
2014-05-04 - Thrissur, India. Dhinesh Kallungal
Dhinesh Kallungal:"The stage is set for one of the ‘mammoth misuses’ of captive elephants in the country, with the festival organisers of Thrissur Pooram, the largest temple festival in the South India, doing the final preparations to make the festival a roaring success at the cultural capital of Kerala."
2014-05-04 - Pollachi, India.
Every love story is interesting. This one is more so as R. Palanisamy begins saying ‘Kalpana Chawla’ will be expecting him back home. He is a mahout and ‘Kalpana Chawla’ is the elephant he has trained. And, they both live in the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s elephant camp in Topslip.
2014-05-04 - Kochi, India.
Following a complaint that wounded jumbos were being paraded at the Peruvaram Mahadeva temple at Paravur, a five-member flying squad of the forest department inspected the elephants being readied for the ´kazcha seeveli´ ritual on Saturday evening. We´ve found a wound near the knee of an elephant, Mangalakunnu Karnan. But Dr Gireesh, the veterinarian who issued fitness certificates for the jumbos said the wound is not as severe as to cause pain to the animal.
2014-05-04 - KANNUR, India.
A wild elephant that is suspected to have killed a tribal woman at Aralam here two weeks ago died on Thursday apparently due to injury caused by some explosion. Forest officials said the elephant was found wandering in Aralam with some injury in its mouth in the last week of April, nearly a week after the tribal woman was trampled to death.
2014-05-03 - Agra, India.
A first of its kind unique elephant conservation centre in Agra rescues elephants from various party of the country and provides a safe haven where the animal can roam about unfettered. The 10- acre centre has been opened by the Wildlife Association and Save Our Souls (SOS) and is located near Mathura. A similar elephant centre is underway in Haryana.
2014-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
It is common knowledge that the Thrissur Pooram was the brain child of King Sakthan Thampuran, who also had the dense teak forests of the renowned Thekkinkadu Maidanam cleared, just for its sake. "There won´t be a next generation of elephants in Kerala, and consequently, no more Poorams! Enjoy them while they are still on,
2014-04-30 - Ernakulam, India.
An injured female wild elephant that took refuge in the reservoir of the Edamalayar Dam in Ernakulam district a week ago after getting isolated from its herd is reluctant to return to the forests. The elephant that limped back into the forests on Saturday morning was found back in the reservoir on Sunday morning
2014-04-29 - Uttarakhand, India.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stayed construction of a 2-km wall inside the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand, after it found the wall would obstruct a passage used by elephants along the Song River. The Social Action for Forest and Environment (SAFE), an NGO, had filed a petition with the NGT about the construction being carried out by the state irrigation department, without taking permission from the Union forest ministry.
2014-04-20 - GARUMARA, India.
Over 90 captive elephants of West Bengal Forest Department are inseparable part of Election process in Northern part of the state that hosts a vast forest area under many reserved and unreserved forests including Buxa Tiger reserve, Garumara National park, Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary or Chapramari WL Sanctuary.
2014-02-09 - DHARMAPURI, India.
Five forest department staff and as many as five civilians were injured after they were attacked by a herd of elephants near Denkanikottah, 32km from Hosur in Krishnagiri district, official sources said today. All the injured persons have been hospitalised and are out of danger.
2014-02-06 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The brutal death of Saneesh, a mahout who was mauled by a 19 year old elephant at Thevara, is due to the disruption of a long standing relationship of trust and love that mahouts and elephants used to have till a decade ago. Saneesh was the twenty eighth mahout that 19 year old Uttoli Mahadevan, had to take orders from in the last seven years.
2014-02-06 - Kochi, India.
Don’t blame it on the veterinarians if they arrive late to dart restive wild animals as Kochi has only one licensed government veterinarian for the jumbo job. Though there is enough number of government veterinarians in the district who can dart the animals, including elephants, only one has the licence to pick up the dart gun and fire to sedate them. And it may take hours for making his service available as proved in the city on Tuesday. It took nearly three hours for the veterinarian to arr...
2014-02-05 - Calcutta, India.
National Green Tribunal on Tuesday sought a response from the Centre and Assam government on a petition alleging that work of some state-owned companies in and around the Dehing-Patkai wildlife sanctuary in Tinsukia district was affecting the environment. Based on the petition, the tribunal also issued notices and sought responses of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Oil India Ltd, National Highways Authority of India, Coal India Ltd and various state authorities. The petition alleged that their activ...
2014-02-04 - Mettupalayam, India.
After 48 days in the rejuvenation camp, 31 temple and 18 forest elephants from different parts of Tamil Nadu would leave for their respective places on Tuesday evening. The annual camp was held on the banks of Bhavani river at Thekkumpatti and Nellithorai near Mettupalayam. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) and Forest Department organised the camp to help the temple elephants regain vitality.
2014-02-04 - Bangalore, India.
Not since forest brigand Veerappan was killed by the Special Task Force in 2004 has the forest department been so jittery. Three young elephants have been killed for their tusks in the last six months — two of them in just a month in the ´D´ (demarcation) line between Karnataka-Tamil Nadu.
2014-02-04 - Pathanamthitta, India.
A 40-year-old female elephant has died after consuming plastic waste dumped by Sabarimala pilgrims. Forest officials found the carcass at Valiyanavattam along the path leading to the pilgrim centre in Pathanamthitta district. Veterinary surgeon Saseendra Dev, who conducted the autopsy, said the animal had consumed 2 kg of food packaging waste, including plastic bags, biscuit covers and aluminum foils.
2014-02-03 - Mysore, India.
The injured included a journalist, a mahout, a kavadi and two girls, who had visited the venue for the fair. The incident occurred when two elephants of Suttur mutt, Drona and Champa, raised a ruckus owing to the noise of crackers that were burst during Rathotsava, at the venue. The elephants which were near the mutt premises, reacted out of fear as the crackers burst, and ran haywire, resulting in losses to vendors, who had set up shop for the fair.
2014-01-28 - New Delhi, India.
Devasthan Management Committee, which manages the famous Jyotiba temple in Kolhapur, today denied that elephant Sunder was tortured and starved during the last six years while it was under the temple´s care, as alleged by NGO PETA. The management committee of the temple, by a resolution passed on December 26, 2013, gifted Sunder to Warna Sahakari Dudh Utpadan Society. Accordingly, it has been shifted to the company premises where it walks in open air, said the affidavit.
2014-01-21 - Bombay, India.
Sunder the elephant, who has been the subject of a petition for his release will have his case heard in front of the Bombay High court on Tuesday. Through an investigative video, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a non-governmental organisation working for the welfare of animals, had furnished evidence of abuse that the pachyderm was allegedly being subjected to. Officials from PETA and a few supporters had met state forest minister Patangrao Kadam regarding Sunder’s case. At thi...
2013-12-29 - Kochi, India.
The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that has afflicted domestic cattle in southern States is looking to threaten an unexpected sector — Kerala’s flourishing elephant rental business. The rental business’ high season has just opened and elephant owners are flush with bookings. In the case of certain top-end elephants with high brand value, the booking is for four or five months in advance. But the FMD outbreak in the State over a month ago left thousands of cattle infected. Though the airborne...
2013-12-27 - Thrissur, India.
A woman had a miraculous escape after she was caught in between the legs of an elephant which ran amok during a temple festival at Kumaranchira near Nandipulam here on Thursday. Shobana of Mupliyam suffered minor injuries and has been admitted to the Puthukkad Government Hospital. According to police, the elephant, Irinjalakuda Kannan, turned violent when the mahouts were adorning it with caparisons before the procession at 9.30 a.m.
2013-12-20 - Guruvayur, India.
Concerned over the cases of two captive elephants that were infected by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), elephant owners in the State are coming together to protect the national animal from the epidemic. As a precautionary measure to prevent infection among its herd, the Guruvayur Devaswom had recently banned visitors from its Punnathurkotta elephant camp. The 60 elephants of the devaswom are housed at the camp, which is visited by hundreds every day.
2013-12-19 - Chennai, India.
For the first time in seven years, the elephants belonging to the forest department would attend the rejuvenation camp, so far held for their temple counterparts, near Mettupalayam from Thursday. Though the 48-day camp would see around 100 elephants, including temple and kumkis. While the 33 temple elephants would attend the Thekkampatty camp, the 55 forest elephants from Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Coimbatore range and Vandalur Zoo would camp at Nellithorai.
2013-12-05 - New Delhi, India.
Seventy elephants have died on Bengal’s railway tracks since 1994, all but three of them in north Bengal, the state government has told the Supreme Court. According to the state’s affidavit, 57 elephants have died in train hits and 13 of electrocution on the tracks in the past 19 years. Since 2009, the number of elephants killed on Bengal’s railway tracks has been 29.
2013-12-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Rising incidents of human-elephant conflict has become a headache for the state government. As many as 354 people were killed by the jumbos in the past six years, while 368 elephants died during the same period. Between 2008-09 and 2013-14 (till November 15 this year), the number of elephant deaths caused by poaching, electrocution, and accidents is higher than the casualties due to natural reasons and diseases. Nearly 150 elephants died due to poaching, electrocution, and accidents as against 1...
2013-11-23 - Peren, India.
The Nagaland forest department has “arrested” a domestic elephant, believed to be from Assam, for allegedly destroying large patches of crop land and bamboo groves in a village in Peren district, bordering Assam. “The elephant is in safe custody. We have engaged a few persons to look after it till the owner shows up and claims it by producing proper documents,’ Mokok Jamir, a forest official in Peren district, told The Telegraph over phone today.
2013-11-23 - Wayanad, India.
The team of Gajakesari has selected the elephant that will play an important role in the film. the elephant for the film has been found in Waynad, Kerala. The elephant, named Arjuna, and the shoot for the fourth schedule of the film involving him started earlier this week. Arjuna is a tusker and is one of the biggest domesticated elephants in India.
2013-11-16 - Sonepur, India.
The globally renowned, month-long ´Sonepur mela´ at which elephants, horses and cattle are sold and purchased began today on the bank of the river Ganga in Bihar´s Saran district. The fair originates from the times when Emperor Chandragupta Maurya used to buy elephants and horses from across the Ganga.
2013-11-15 - Vazhachal, India.
Prince Charles met representatives from WWF India at the Vazhachal Forest in the south of the country in an area known as the Western Ghats. He was told about the issues and challenges related to conservation in this area, including the role of corridors, the illegal trade in elephant tusks, and the human-elephant interface in India.
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.
2013-11-13 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Six elephants were killed and several others injured after a herd was run over by a train today near West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri district. The herd was hit by a passenger train which was headed for Dibrugarh. In a similar incident, seven elephants had been killed by a speeding train in September 2010 near Binnaguri in Jalpaiguri.
2013-11-13 - Baripada, India.
Elephant rides will be an added attraction for tourists visiting Similipal National Park as the state´s only tiger reserve, located in Mayurbhanj district, opened for public today. Kunki elephants -- Mahindra, Sobha and Raj Kumar -- will take tourists on joyrides, said an official of the park, which opened today after a 12-day delay caused due to efforts to clear trees uprooted by Cyclone Phailin.
2013-11-12 - Mysore, India.
Three weeks after the returning of Dasara elephants to the woods, one of them went berserk on the forest fringes of Nagarahole and charged out of the woods. The drama that began on Tuesday ended on Thursday with the tranquilizing of elephant Harsha.It took 36 hours for the foresters to capture Harsha, otherwise known for his composure, and bring the situation under control.
2013-11-07 - Bangalore, India.
A Bangalore-based conservation organisation is testing GPS collars that could help tackle man-elephant conflicts. These collars are designed and developed by a team of engineers at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE, formerly CEDT), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The collars will be used by the Aane Mane Foundation to track the movement of tame elephants that the state government had decided to release into the wild.
2013-11-03 - Kochi, India.
Dearth of money and a serious shortage of hardwood kambakam (Hopea parviflora) is holding up repair work on the famed elephant kraal (aanakkood) at Kodanad, a village whose history is intimately linked to the tradition of capture and taming of wild elephants.
2013-11-03 - Kaziranga, India.
The Park was opened for four months by Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain today. Over 67 foreign travellers besides hundreds of domestic tourists took the elephant rides on 17 pachyderms pressed into service from the Mihimukh ground inside the Park, KNP officials said.
2013-10-31 - Kaziranga, India.
Tusker ´Ratan´ (26) in Musth, suddenly attacked another elephant ´Gautam´ (25) when they were playing with each other on Tuesday and seriously injured him. Gautam, who does not have tusks, succumbed to his wounds within three hours of being attacked. Ratan was also grievously injured in the fight and died yesterday, the Park director said.
2013-10-31 - Mumbai, India.
The Maharashtra wildlife department has passed an order prohibiting the entry of elephants into Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane regions. The directive was issued on Monday by additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Suresh Thorat. The circular said that elephants were mostly brought into city limits to beg, entertain, "bless" people and even used for shoots though they were a Schedule-1 protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
2013-10-27 - Chennai, India.
Elephants in the Nilgiri biosphere comprising Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, are relatively safe, with the number of poaching cases having reduced over the years, renowned conservationist and expert on Asiatic elephants Dr Raman Sukumar said here on Saturday.
2013-10-26 - Mumbai, India.
54-year-old elephant Laxmi is the oldest resident in Jijamata Udyan zoo, Byculla. And everyone is fond of her mahouts, keepers and the public. A few years back the elephants were supposed to be moved out of the zoo to a protected sanctuary. But because of their old age and inability to adapt to new surroundings they were kept back in the company of mahouts who are extremely fond of them.
2013-10-26 - Thondamuthur, India.
The Forest Department on Thursday night deployed two kumki (tamed/trained) elephants, Nanjan and Pari, at Kuppepalayam near Thondamuthur to send back the lone female elephant and a herd deep into the forests. For the last ten days, the herd and the lone elephant have been straying out of the forests and two days ago, the female elephant trampled a 55-year-old woman to death.
2013-10-24 - Kochi, India.
Juhaim Ibnu Abdul Jabbar, 22, is studying engineering at Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Kochi. The name of my device is EDD (Elephant Deterrent Device). When elephants run wild, they end up dying in rail accidents or they become a threat to people on the streets, farmers and crops. My device can avert these tragedies.
2013-10-21 - Dimapur, India.
A Female elephant calf, about three weeks old, was rescued from a location called Rara by the Aliba Village Council under Mokokchung District on October 18, 2013. Fondly christened ‘Rara,’ she has been safely relocated to the Nagaland Zoological Park (NZP), Rangapahar on October 20 by a seven-member team comprising of Obed Bohovi Swu, Officer-in-Charge, NZP, Rangaphar along with Dr. R. Wati Ao, the visiting Veterinary doctor of NZP and the Wildlife Staff.
2013-10-20 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The elephant enclosure at Nandankanan would soon be expanded to 20 acre from the current five. The zoo authorities have already got the nod from Central Zoo Authority (CZA). Besides, it will also get four more adult elephants by December. Currently, there are three elephants in the zoo.
2013-09-16 - Coimbatore, India.
Two tuskers were found dead, probably during fights with other members of a herd, in the Coimbatore and Satyamangalam forest areas. In the first incident, a male tusker was killed in a fight with another elephant, near Kallar in the Mettupalayam forest area. In another incident, a 15-year-old male elephant was found dead in the Satyamangalam forest range in neighbouring Erode district on Saturday.
2013-09-02 - Trivandrum, India.
The death of 36 elephants during the last eight months (2013 January-2013 August) reflects the sorry state of the lives of the captive elephants in the state. Among these captive elephants, 29 were owned by individuals and seven were under the control of state forest department. The statistics is prepared by Thrissur based Heritage animal task force with the help of environmentalists and elephant activists in the state. But the government admits that they are yet to compile the list of dead elep...
2013-09-02 - Mysore, India.
Tall and handsome Arjuna is the new leader of Dasara jumbos. On Wednesday, as the first batch of five jumbos started their sojourn to Mysore from Nagapura bordering Nagarahole national park, 53-year-old Arjuna led them indicating the change in order. After his performance at Dasara procession in October 2012, the tusker is now undisputed leader of the pack of elephants.
2013-09-01 - Coimbatore, India.
The last two members of an elephant herd that was roaming near Thandarampatti near Sathanur dam in Thiruvannamalai were captured on Wednesday night by forest officials. The two male calves had come in search of the herd leader, a female elephant, which was captured early Wednesday
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.
2013-08-19 - Alappuzha, India.
Businessman Sundar Menon’s confession seems to have courted a controversy. Menon, owner of Thiruvambadi Shivasundar, who said he was in the habit of giving his elephant buckets full of brandy, has come in for severe criticism from all quarters. The row came following a report in the New York Times… “A Big, Blingy Indian Love Song for a Brandy-Swigging Elephant”, which appeared on August 16.
2013-08-18 - Palani, India.
A pregnant elephant and tusker were found killed in what seemed to have been a fiery battle within the herd in the reserve forests near the Palar-Porundhalar dam on Saturday, forest officials said. The carcass of a six-year-old male elephant was found near Kallar Odai, a forest stream, and 15-year-old pregnant female elephant 300 feet away.
2013-08-15 - Palakkad, India.
A captive elephant gored to death its 50-year old mahout to death in Puthur in the district today, police said. The jumbo, which had been brought to participate in the ´anayootu´ (feeding of elephants) festival at Thirupuraikkal Bhagavathy Temple here, killed its second mahout Ramankutty (50).
2013-07-10 - Kottayam, India.
A tusker fainted and died at 14th Mile in Kottayam on Sunday morning. It is reported that the elephant died as soon as it fell to the ground. Erumeli forest range officer Shantry Tom told ‘Express’ that the deceased elephant was owned by Babu from Thottakad, who owns several elephants. “The exact reason for the death of the animal is not known.
2013-06-23 - Mumbai, India.
An animal lover here Saturday rued the manner in which some prominent animal rights groups were suddenly concerned by the plight of an ailing elephant named Bijlee, and using her to garner publicity. "I request them not to shed crocodile tears for Bijlee, who is in our care and improving with each day of medication, proper diet and lots of love," Animals Matter To Me (AMTM) chief Ganesh Nayak told IANS.
2013-05-18 - Cochin, India.
The Kerala Forest Department is planning to set up Kerala State Elephant Welfare Board for the well-being of elephants and mahouts. According to the draft proposal, the welfare board will collect Rs.10,000 as annual contribution for an animal from its owners. The department has begun discussions with stakeholders to draw up the structure for the board and its guidelines.
2013-04-26 - Thrissur, India.
Thousands of people witnessed the annual Elephant Festival held here over the weekend. The troupe of drummers, roaring crowd, and the decorated elephants, which carried the deities from different temples on their back added to the grandeur of the parade. The festival parade culminated in the grounds of Vadakkunnathan Temple.The festival is celebrated annually in the month of Medam (mid April and May first) as per the Malayalam calendar.
2013-04-21 - Trichur, India.
The main features of the pooram (festival) are decorated elephants with their nettipattam (decorative golden headdress), beautifuliy crafted kolam, decorative bells and ornaments etc. Add to this is the panchavadyam, the rhythmic beating of the drum, and what would be a cacophony otherwise is turned into an organized but spontaneous symphony.
2013-04-20 - Wayanad, India. Zachariah A, Zong JC, Long SY, Latimer EM, Heaggans SY, Richman LK, Hayward GS. Source Department of Forests and Wildlife, Government of Kerala, Sultan Battery, Wayanad, India.
These results argue against the previous suggestions that this is just a disease of captive elephants and that the EEHV1 virus has crossed recently from African elephant (Loxodonta africana) hosts to Asian elephants. Instead, both the virus and the disease are evidently widespread in Asia and, despite the disease severity, Asian elephants appear to be the ancient endogenous hosts of both EEHV1A and EEHV1B.
2013-04-16 - Trivandrum, India.
After manual labourers, it is now the turn of captive elephants to have a long lunch break and siesta in order to spare them of toiling under scorching heat which Kerala is currently experiencing. The state Wildlife Department has banned parading of jumbos during festivals between 11 AM to 3.30 PM to protect them from the heat wave conditions.
2013-04-15 - Athagarh, India.
The Athagarh Wildlife Division on Sunday sealed Hardev Steel Factory, a sponge iron plant in the area, after a pregnant elephant was electrocuted on its premises. About 40-year-old female elephant strayed from its herd and walked into the steel unit late on Saturday and came in contact with a live electricity line used by the plant officials. After receiving electric shock, the jumbo meandered off about 100 metres and collapsed. It was found dead by the locals in the morning.
2013-04-15 - Udhagamandalam, India.
An eight-year-old male elephant was today electrocuted after it came into contact with an electric fence in a farm in Allurvayal, about 80 kms from here. Two people, including the farm owner, have been arrested in this connection, forest department sources said. They said the post-mortem report revealed that the elephant was electrocuted inside the farm and that its carcass was dragged outside and dumped near the fence.
2013-04-09 - Jalpaiguri, India.
An elephant was beheaded and its tusks were stolen by suspected poachers from neighbouring Assam at Buxa reserve forest in Jalpaiguri district, officials said today. "The carcass of the elephant without its tusks was found on Saturday at Dakshin Raidak area in the forest and it is the handiwork of poachers coming from Assam," Chief Wildlife Warden Nabin Chandra Bahuguna told reporters here.
2013-04-09 - Thattekkadu, India.
Forest department officials rescued a baby elephant, less than a year-and-a-half-old, from a 15-foot open well into which it fell during a nightly raid by a herd of elephants on a homestead in the Urulanthanni division of Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Thattekkadu, on Sunday night.
2013-04-08 - Jaipur, India.
In the past two years, nine elephants have died in the Amber region. This year, two elephants have died so far. Lack of financial aid from the government, elephant owners alleged, is one of the main reasons for the deaths. Most of these elephants are used in riding, a major attraction among tourists.
2013-03-26 - Jaipur, India.
The popular elephant festival this year will be celebrated with traditional gaiety at Rambagh Polo Ground on March 26 from 4 pm to 7 pm. The event is being organized by the Rajasthan tourism, district administration, Jaipur Municipal Corporation and Elephants Owners Development Society.
2013-03-14 - Thrissur, India.
Ramachandran, which stands 3.17m tall and fondly called Raman, was released by the Perumbavoor first class judicial magistrate court last week in a case related to the death of three women after he ran amok at a temple festival in Perumbavoor on January 27.
2013-01-13 - Jhargram, India.
An elephant calf which was spotted at areas adjacent to Hatiatara forest near Jhargram was brought to the mini zoo here by forest officials. Divisional forest officer A P Singh said it was probably left behind by a herd which was seen in the area recently. Officials of Kalaikunda, Hijri and Belda under Kharagpur forest division brought the 2-year-old elephant calf to Jhargram mini zoo last evening, he said.
2013-01-13 - , India.
Elephants in areas with high rail traffic will be tagged electronically under a pilot project to protect them from trains, Minister for Environment & Forests Jayanti Natarajan has said. A tag would help forest officials keep track of an elephant’s movements and give them time to alert railway officials. A speeding driver usually has little time to react after he realises an elephant is on the tracks ahead.
2013-01-13 - Coimbatore, India.
After completing their 48-day rejuvenation camp, 35 elephants from different temples and Mutts started their return journey today from Thekkampatti near Mettupalayam in the district. The elephant camp was organized by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department.
2013-01-09 - ROURKELA, India.
Wildlife experts on Monday tranquilized the rogue tusker, which had wrecked havoc in the region and killed at least six persons in the last 12 days, in Sundargarh district. The tusker has been tied to a tree in the forest. Its tusks have been trimmed, as a preventive measure.
2013-01-07 - New Delhi, India.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is planning to tell the Railway Board to ensure that trains slow down sufficiently in elephant corridors. This comes in the wake of Coromondel Express mowing down five elephants and a calf at Ganjam district on December 30 night. The train was running at 110 kmph when the accident happened.
2013-01-01 - Bhubaneshwar, India.
A passenger train has ploughed into and killed five elephants of a herd crossing railroad tracks in eastern India. RN Mohapatra, a railways spokesman, said the train struck the animals early on Sunday, in the Rambha forest area, about 110 miles south of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the state of Orissa.
2012-11-27 - Mettupalayam, India.
A 52-year-old female elephant died before the opening of the annual rejuvenation camp for temple elephants at Nellithurai near Mettuppalayam in Coimbatore district. The elephant, Bhavani, belonged to the Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram. She died around 8pm on Sunday when she was taken to the Bhavani river for a bath, said sources in the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.
2012-11-25 - Mettupalayam, India.
Loaded in lorries, nine elephants with their mahouts from Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts on Saturday left for the 48-day annual rejuvenation camp to start at Mettupalayam from November 26 onwards. After being flagged off by Minister for Khadi and Village Industries P. Senthurpandian at the Bypass Road Flyover near KTC Nagar, the elephants’ journey for Mettupalayam began around 4 p.m.
2012-11-13 - Riau, India.
Three elephants were found dead on a plantation in the Riau district of Pelalawan on Monday, allegedly killed as a result of having been poisoned. The remains were already decaying when discovered not far from Kilometer 89 of Jalan Koridor Baserah, with the rare animals’ deaths judged to have taken place a week earlier.
2012-11-09 - Bhubaneswar, India.
An elephant undergoing training at Chandaka Sanctuary here today crushed its Mahout to death, forest officials said. Dilip Rabha (52), who was training 20-year-old elephant Shankar for the past two years, was pulled down from the animal´s back and trampled to death while it was being taken for a bath. After killing the Mahout, Shankar sat near the body and prevented anyone to come near him. A team from Nandankanan Zoo reached the spot and tranquilized the elephant.
2012-11-01 - New Delhi, India.
India´s Odisha state lost at least 296 elephants in the past five years, several victims of electrocution, officials said. State authorities and wildlife activists said the elephants died after coming in contact with hanging, live electricity wires, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Wildlife activist Biswajit Mohanty said the casualty rate has been about 10 per year.
2012-10-30 - Western Orissa, India.
About 17 elephants in three herds damaged ripening paddy and vegetable crops in several villages including Podagada, Jhatipadar, N Barpalli, Raghunathpur, Balibagada and Palur under Ganjam block. Notably, some elephant herds had created much trouble for the farmers during planting of the paddy saplings in these areas and now when the harvesting time has come, the pachyderms have resurfaced and are creating colossal damages.
2012-10-30 - Peechiind, India.
A wildlife survey carried out in the state in 2011, after a gap of nine years, has come out with some reassuring findings. Kerala´s wildlife population has largely stabilised while certain animal populations are even showing signs of growth. The 2011 census data submitted to the Forest Department by the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi, estimates the elephant population of the state to be 7,490 while it was 6,939 in 2002.
2012-10-30 - Mysore, India.
The Forest department is all set to organise a Jumbo Festival at the Dubare Elephant camp near Nanjarayapatna tourist centre in Kodagu district. The elephants will take part in various games, which are scheduled to begin at 9.30 am. A total of 20 elephants will take part in various activities. The training of the elephants is being undertaken under the guidance of taskmaster J K Dobi, informed Deputy Conservator of Forests of Madikeri Division, Dhananjay.
2012-10-29 - Chennai, India.
A newborn premature elephant calf is battling for survival in Tamil Nadu´s Mudumalai jungle area. Forest officials say the mother elephant probably delivered the calf while crossing a road and since early Monday morning the new born has not had milk. Authorities say the calf is unable to stand and the mother is helpless. A herd of elephants stand guard around the mother and her calf.
2012-10-29 - Thiruvidaimaruthur, India.
An Indian school teacher who bowed down in front of a temple elephant to pray for good luck from the Gods died when the animal stamped on him with both feet and then picked him up and smashed him headfirst against a wall. Eyewitnesses said that Sekarv Aadil, 55, had only arrived at the Sri Mahalingaswamy temple at Thiruvidaimaruthur minutes before – and as he walked through the door he had spotted the elephant being led to its stable by one of the temple monks.
2012-10-29 - Coonoor, India.
An 18-year-old female elephant was today found dead near a private tea estate in Coonoor-Barliar area, about 25 kms from here, forest department sources said. Injuries on the elephant indicated that it had a fight with a male elephant which had gored it to death, sources said. Meanwhile, traffic was paralysed for over one hour on Masanagudi-Theppakkadu Road under Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, as a herd of elephants stood guard, protecting a female elephant, who was delivering a calf.
2012-10-21 - New Delhi, India.
Owners - individuals, companies, temples and temple administration bodies like Devaswoms - will have to pay 12.36 per cent service tax on the earnings their elephants make for them per day. Service tax on earning made by elephants will come into force in April next. However, the elephants of the Department of Forests have been exempted from this. The Government has started collecting information on captive elephants as part of the introduction of service tax on earnings made from use of elephan...
2012-10-20 - Mysore, India.
The successor for Balarama, a 54-year-old tusker that carried the 750-kg golden howdah 12 times in a row since 1999 during the Jamboo Savari, the grand Dasara finale here, has been found. The tall and relatively stronger 52-year-old elephant Arjuna will take over the mantle from the master tusker to don the role of a show-stopper this year.
2012-10-18 - New Delhi, India.
India’s top bureaucrats managing forests and elephants, and the wildlife conservation NGO community on Wednesday showcased public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives that promise to connect more of the 88 identified elephant corridors with forests, potentially reducing the stress on the species. On its part, the Centre is considering hiking compensation for voluntary resettlement of residents to increase habitat available to elephants and reduce human-elephant conflict.
2012-10-16 - Mysore, India.
Balarama is a veteran of the stables behind the Mysore Palace, and a bit of a celebrity. The elephant’s fame hasn’t come easy. This star of Mysore has carried the golden howdah that weighs 750kg in the yearly Dussehra procession for 13 years. Known for his gentle temperament and patience, Balarama has an active fan following in Mysore, a Wikipedia entry and even a book on him, titled Balarama: A Royal Elephant, which is written and illustrated by Ted and Betsy Lewin.
The city of Mysore has a long tradition of celebrating the Dasara festival and the festivities there are an elaborate affair, attracting a large audience including foreigners. The Dasara festival completed 400th anniversary in year 2010
2012-09-17 - New Delhi, India.
All temple elephants in Tamil Nadu state, in the far south of India, have been found to be obese with some more than 80 stone overweight, according to the BBC´s Tamil Service. Their condition is blamed partly on the lack of exercise caused by their captivity – many of them are chained close to the temple´s gates – and overfeeding by pilgrims who believe it will bring them blessings.
2012-09-17 - Mysore, India.
An ailing 73-year-old female elephant, which had taken part in the famous Dasara festival celebrations on eight occasions, died near here, a top Wildlife official said today. The elephant Kavita died yesterday at the K Gudi Camp in Biligiri Ranganatittu Wildlife Sanctuary, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wild Life Warden Dipal Sarmah told PTI. The elephant was not keeping well and was undergoing treatment for the past few months, he added.
2012-09-09 - Nagarahole, India.
The Balle camp in Nagarhole National Park has turned into an elephant nursery with four calves being born to Dasara elephants Mary, Varalakshmi, Gange and Sarala. Though these four elephants will miss the Jumboo Savari this year, the camp is bustling with activity and wears a festive look. The mahouts, kavadis and forest officials at the camp are taking special care of the mothers and babies, putting them on a special diet.
2012-09-09 - Mysore, India.
Gajapayana, the beginning of the journey of elephants for Dasara festivities in Mysore, started at Nagapura on Friday afternoon amid much fanfare. S A Ramdas, the minister in-charge of Mysore district, offered pooja to four decorated elephants bound for the State’s cultural capital.
2012-09-09 - Darjeeling, India.
A joint Indo-Nepal task force is likely to be formed to curb the movement of Indian elephants into Nepal, stop smuggling and prevent human trafficking, official sources said here today. A meeting on this issue was held yesterday in Siliguri which was attended by police and forest officials of Darjeeling district and Jhapa, Illam and Panchothori districts of Nepal.
2012-09-06 - Thrissur, India.
The sanitary conditions in the famous elephant sanctuary at Punnathurkotta are in an abysmal state. The 63 elephants owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom Board housed in the compound face a serious health hazard owing to non-removal of waste, which includes elephant excreta, palm leaves and grass. Seven tonnes of waste is generated here daily. Although the devaswom has given tender to remove the waste on a daily basis, the compound has not been cleaned for the past several days.
2012-09-03 - Madikeri, India. Shrikanth Kallammanavara
In an unique attempt, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices have been installed on the collars of two tamed elephants at Dubare elephant camp in Kushalnagar. It is for the first time that GPS has been installed on elephants. Two elephants that have got the privilege of GPS are Ranjan (4) and Shivagange (11). With the installation of GPS on Saturday, the path on which the elephants walk could be traced through the internet enabled system.
2012-08-29 - Coimbatore, India.
Four elephants were killed when a train, travelling at a speed in the excess of 135 Kmph, rammed the six-member herd near Walayar at around 1.30am. Three elephants including a pregnant female, and a calf were killed on the spot. The impact was so powerful that four bogies of the train derailed.
2012-08-03 - Gauhati, India.
A female elephant died on Wednesday after it was hit by a passenger train while crossing a railway track searching for food, forest officials said. Local Indian villagers buried the Asiatic pachyderm near the Panbari railway station in Assam.
2012-08-02 - Bangalore, India.
The state forest department on an average receives 50 complaints per day of elephant attacks on farm lands and villages adjacent to forests. In the previous year 17,979 cases of such attacks have been registered and in the year 2010-11 it was 29,87, forest minister CP Yogeshwar has said.
2012-07-08 - Madurai, India.
The ordeal of a couple over the loss of a pet elephant for almost six years came to an end as the elephant was rescued from its trainers by the city police on Friday. It was one among the interesting cases handled by the police department.
2012-05-29 - Erode, India.
A 17-year-old cow elephant was found dead allegedly due to anthrax in Kurangupallam, Vadavalli in Kuthialathur reserve forest, Sathy, on Sunday. Locals informed the forest officials that a carcass of a elephant was found in the Kuthialathur reserve forest area. The conservator of forest D Arun and Sathy Divisional Forest Officer D Sathish visited the spot with forest veterinarian Dr Manoharan. In the autopsy, the officials found that the animal died due to anthrax.
2012-05-03 - Thrissur, India.
At least 62 people including women and children were injured on Wednesday when an elephant participating in the Thrissur Pooram ran amok. It was at around 12.15 pm that the elephant, Unnippilly Kalidasan of Paramekkavu temple, who appeared during the elephant parade by noon on Wednesday turned hostile.
2012-05-01 - Thrissur, India.
Revellers packed the city streets on Tuesday to soak in every bit of the Thrissur Pooram — the elephant parades, ensembles, religious ceremonies and the pyrotechnics. Elephant lovers got to see 38 majestic tuskers, 30 of them at the main parade. People devoted to temples and their customs admired the festival´s celebration of age-old rituals, especially the processions carrying the deities of the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu temples to the Sree Vadakkannathan temple in the heart of the c...
"Every year, we check the elephants. If the elephants are having musth (a period when elephants display highly aggressive behaviour), then we remove the elephant from the list, because it is a very important fair. We also check the heath as well as the microchip number that is inside the elephant´s body, so we can identify the animal very easily. We carry out this process every year for the betterment of the function of Pooram," said Giridas, a veterinary doctor.
2012-05-01 - Coimbatore, India.
A 25-year-old estate worker was today gored to death by a Kumki (tamed elephant), when he attempted to save his colleague from its attack at Kolikamudi Settlement area coming under Anamalai Tiger Reserve in the district, forest department sources said. Vadivelu noticed the elephant coming near his colleague and tried to prevent it from advancing.However, the elephant attacked him and gored him to death, sources said. Sources said there was a camp for taming elephants and the tamed elephant used ...
2012-04-30 - , India.
The news that 28 elephants have died in the State in the last two years due to electrocution comes as a shocker. Most of these incidents have been reported in Kodagu, Chamrajanagar and Mysore areas where the number of elephants is good and the animals are frequently on the move. The recent electrocution occurred at the BBTC plantations near Polibetta in Kodagu on April 12.
2012-04-25 - Bangalore, India.
The 14 elephants at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) will no longer be shackled or put as display items in their enclosures. They will be left free inside the safari with no interference from human beings. In accordance with guidelines laid down by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), the new concept called ‘Elephant Park’ is being implemented at the BBP. The CZA sent a circular to all the state governments, banning chaining and displaying of elephants in public.
2012-04-06 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Three elephants, including a one-year old male, were founded dead today at various places coming under Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Nilgiris district. A 25-year old female elephant, which was caught in a slush during search of water and was rescued last night by forest department officials, died this morning without responding to treatment, Forest Department sources said.
2012-04-05 - Gundlupet, India.
An incident of a wild Tiger killing five elephant calves in Bandipur National Forest has come to light recently. About four elephant calves aged between one and two years were found injured following Tiger attack in Hediyala, Bandipura and Gudre forest areas. Forest officials had brought one of the calves and treated it, but to no avail. One more calf, which was injured in recent days, was found dead following the attack by the big cat.
2012-04-05 - Pathanamthitta, India.
A 40-year-old mahout was electrocuted while riding atop a temple elephant at Vallikkod near here, police said. Santhosh Kumar, a mahout of Travancore Devaswom Board, died after he suffered shock while trying to remove a palm leaf on their way with which a live wire was tangled yesterday, police said. The mahout fell off the elephant due to the impact of the shock. Though local people rushed him to a nearby hospital, he was declared dead. The tusker Parthan, being taken to Vallikko...
2012-03-31 - Guwahati, India.
Assam has recorded a remarkable growth in its elephant population, according to the recently concluded elephant census in the state.The elephant census this year recorded a total of 5,620 elephants in Assam compared to 5,246 elephants in the 2009 census year, state Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said and added that an increase of 374 in the jumbo population was a good indication.
2012-03-29 - Thrissur, India.
A tusker belonging to the Koodalmanikyam Temple in Irinjalakuda gored its first mahout to death inside the temple compound on Wednesday evening. The deceased has been identified as Devadas, hailing from Palakkad, police told. The temple authorities informed that the elephant “Megharjunan” was in musth and was showing signs of aggression.
2012-03-15 - New Delhi, India.
Army veterinary doctors in Assam recently performed the difficult task of successfully treating an adult wild elephant after it pierced its foot with a six-inch long glass shrapnel. The Advance Field Veterinary Hospital (AFVH) in Misamari regularly helps the ailing animals brought there by forest officials and villagers. Recently the veterinary doctors there successfully treated a wild elephant with a glass piece embedded in its foot, Army officials said here.
2012-03-08 - Madikeri, India.
Coffee Growers said that the elephants have started consuming coffee berries. If this is not checked, then coffee growers will be in distress. The growers aired their grievances before the Elephant Task Force constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest on the direction of the High Court, to study the elephant menace, during their visit to Maldare on Wednesday.
2012-03-04 - Mysore, India. Janaki Lenin
About 25 wild elephants are slated to be transplanted from around Kattepura and Dodbetta Reserve Forests, Hassan District in Karnataka, to other as-yet-undetermined locations. This is punishment for a long string of complaints against them. Since 2007, 14 people have been killed and many more injured by these giants. Besides loss of life and limb, cereal and tree crops are destroyed. In some cases, the entire year’s yield is lost in a single night.
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.
2012-02-18 - Mysore, India.
Mahouts in the Dubare Elephant Camp near Kushalnagar in Kodagu, rallying under the banner of Budakattu Krishikara Sangha, a tribal organisation, staged a protest on Friday to draw the attention of the State Government to confirm their services. They let the 21 captive elephants at the camp, including three calves, into the forests for grazing at 7 a.m. as a measure of protest and refused to bring them back in the afternoon. The elephants, barring a few used in safaris, are let into forests after...
2012-02-15 - Bangalore, India.
In the wake of increasing incidents of wild elephants entering human settlements following their shrinking habitat, the Karnataka High Court has recently appointed an elephant experts´ Action Committee to study the man-wild conflict. According to sources, environment scientist Raman Sukumar has been appointed as the committee´s chairman with experts from various fields -- Ajaikumar Desai, Sharashchandra Leele, C Basappanavar, S S Bhat, N Ravindranath Kamath, B R Deepak, M K Madhusuda...
2012-02-14 - Rajaji National Park, India.
An adult tusker has been relocated to a new area of India´s Rajaji National Park after allegations of human/elephant conflict - rescuing it from an official death sentence. The successful, if complicated, move from Narendranagar Forest Division to the Chilla Range of the park was a joint operation between the Uttarakhand Forest Department, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), and is the result of two months of careful planning.
2012-02-14 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Captive elephants in the state are a sad and lonely lot. Of the 702 captives in the state, only 118 are females, less than 17 per cent of the total captive population. And of the 118, more than 60 per cent have crossed the reproductive age. The jumbos lead such a loveless existence that there is no record of a pregnancy as a result of a union between two captive elephants in the state. In the last four years two female elephants delivered, one in Kollam and another in Kottayam, but both had conc...
2012-02-13 - Madhya Pradesh, India.
The Union Government has given permission to Karnataka to hand over 11 captive elephants to Madhya Pradesh, mostly for use in safaris. According to sources, the permission was granted in November last following a request from the State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Wildlife Warden. The State Forest Department had identified 29 elephants in various camps from which forest officials from Madhya Pradesh could choose, Ajay Mishra, Field Director, Project Elephant, told The Hindu.
2012-02-13 - Jaipur, India.
The nation may not have legalised euthanasia (mercy killing) for humans but in a first of its kind incident in the state, an elephant was given mercy killing in Jaipur. The female elephant Sita was down after she broke one of her legs and seeing her pathetic condition the wild life department granted permission for a euthanasia request on Saturday. According to officials, Sita had fractured her leg for the last two and half months.
2012-02-13 - Palakkad, India.
Two elephants ran amok in Palakkad district and another in Pathanamthitta during temple festivals on Sunday. Four persons were injured in Palakkad, while in Pathanamthitta, the elephant damaged two vehicles and uprooted trees. The pachyderm, Narayanankutty, ran amok at the annual ‘parackezhunnellippu´ ceremony of the Puthenkavumala Mahadevar temple, at Nellad, near Vallamkulam, in Pathanamthitta at 1.30 p.m. on Sunday. It was tranquillised and tethered after three hours by an Elephant Sq...
2012-02-12 - Bangalore, India.
Legend has it that King Alexander did not dare cross the Ganges as there were about 6,000 elephants stationed there. And seated on an elephant, he defeated Porous in the Battle of Jhelum. And Alexander had one Indian elephant in his army! Sharing such nuggets of elephant lore, Prof. Raman Sukumar of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc at the release of his book ´The Story of Asia´s Elephants -- An ecological and cultural history of the Asian elephant´, at Strand book stall...
2012-02-11 - Alappuzha, India.
The people passing by the Forest Office here on Saturday morning stopped for a moment to watch the little baby elephant inside. The one-and-a-half-month old baby elephant, fondly called ‘Chandramukhi’ has just stopped to take some rest before starting on its journey to Kottur Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
2012-02-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
According to the fresh guidelines on safekeeping of elephants, issued by Kerala forests department, all domestic elephants should wear a name plate. It also says that elephants should be covered under third party insurance scheme. According to an official release, the safekeeping of elephants would be monitored by a committee comprising district collectors, police superintendents, divisional forest officer, devaswom board member and a representative of the Kerala elephant owners´ associati...
2012-02-01 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A pregnant elephant was gored to death by a tusker at the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) forest on Monday night, apparently when it refused to respond to the male´s mating call. The carcass was found on Tuesday morning.From the signs found at the spot, it is thought that the tusker suddenly approached the female elephant from behind. But being pregnant, she could not run and join its herd that had moved ahead by then.
2012-02-01 - Jamshedpur, India.
A pair of elephant tusks, weighing approximately 32kg, were recovered late last night from Dalma sanctuary with the help of a sniffer dog and forest officials believe they have scuttled an attempt to smuggle out the ivory valued at Rs 40 lakh in the open market. Ranchi divisional forest officer (wildlife) Kamlesh Pandey said a massive search operation was launched after they heard about the dead elephant.
2012-01-31 - Theppakadu, India.
A 48-day rejuvenation camp for temple elephants in Tamil Nadu concluded on Monday, at Theppakadu in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris. The camp was held as per recommendations made by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department followed by a government order. About 37 elephants from various temples in the state, all female except for one, participated in the camp which began on December 13.
2012-01-29 - Mhow, India.
After spending more than three weeks at the clinic of College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry Mhow, ailing elephant Raja was bid adieu when it was sent back to its home town of Chhatarpur in Rajasthan. As Raja was unable to stand, a crane was used to put him in the truck which is carrying him back home. Raja had arrived in Mhow in the back of a truck on January 3.
2012-01-29 - Andaman islands, India.
After thirty years of service, some workers may never want to work see their employer again, but Rajan the elephant who is retiring at 60 years old, doesn´t want to leave his boss behind. Replaced by motorised boats, the five tonne Asian elephant no longer needs to swim miles as a sea taxi around the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. So now he swims alongside his human keeper, known as a ´mahout´, who has used him as a ferrying service for over 30 years.
2012-01-23 - Bangalore, India.
After a daylong workshop on Saturday organised by the Forest Department, Forest Minister C P Yogeeshwara said, that the experts have suggested that the area which holds small population of elephants is not viable for conservation. They have also suggested their translocation to a distant place. “We will catch those 25 jumbos and translocate them to a distant place on an experimental basis. If they return, we will capture them and keep them in captivity,” he said.
2012-01-22 - COIMBATORE, India.
Nearly 1,000 people gathered to witness Yanai (elephant) Pongal celebrations at Topslip, nearly 85 km from the city, on Saturday. Fourteen elephants were brought from the permanent camp. "Only 14 of the 21 elephants could make the trip. Four more are in a state of ´musth´. And three are ill or aged," said forest ranger Saravanan.
2012-01-21 - Ranchi, India. A.S.R.P. MUKESH
Samrat and Lakhi will soon be taking jumbo strides in Palamau, helping forest officials patrol the tiger reserve and protect big cats. Their compatriot, Ramu, however, will be entertaining guests at Dalma. Birsa Munda Biological Park in Ormanjhi in Ranchi will soon bid adieu to the three elephants in keeping with Central Zoo Authority guidelines that no longer allow jumbos to be kept in captivity.
2012-01-19 - Indore, India.
State’s five national parks will soon have 11 more trained elephants to attract tourists and organize jungle safaris. A team of experts from Bandhavgarh national park left for Karnataka on Wednesday to assess quality of elephants the state government has offered to provide. Karnataka has surplus elephants and we are in dire need of trained ones. So, we accepted the offer,” chief wildlife warden Dr HS Pabla said.
2012-01-18 - Coimbatore, India.
the number of elephants that died in the 11 years between 1999 and 2010 is 298. As many as 23 elephants died in 2011 alone. Of the 23 elephants that died in 2011, one was due to poaching, two died of anthrax disease, three were electrocuted, 11 died of worms, one of starvation, three of gastroenteritis, one of old age, and a two-year-old male elephant lost his life in a tiger attack. The Coimbatore-Erode belt is the largest haven for Asiatic elephants. Thus, there is cause for con...
2012-01-18 - Udhagamandalam, India. D. Radhakrisnan
A significant increase in the inflow of tourists owing to the extended weekend marked the Pongal celebrations in this holiday destination on Saturday. At the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) near here hundreds of tourists, including many foreigners, celebrated Pongal with the camp elephants. After being given a special scrub in the river, the elephants were brought in a procession to the camp at Theppakadu.
2012-01-11 - Bengaluru, India.
Farmers living on the fringes of the Western Ghats in Hassan district, where elephant movement is rampant, have offered to sell their farm land to the government. About 416 farmers and land owners have agreed to sell their land to make way for elephants if the government purchase’s the land at the rate of Rs 15 lakh per acre.
2012-01-09 - Udhagamandalam, India.
Forty-three stressed-out elephants are frolicking and taking it easy at a spa. They are there to soothe their bodies and minds. These elephants - hired out to Hindu temples to lend majesty to religious ceremonies - are at Mudmalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. They have been sent there by the government to relax for six sybaritic weeks because of their gruelling jobs.
2012-01-09 - TRIPUNITHURA, India.
Tension prevailed as an elephant, brought for a festival, ran amok across the town for around one-and-a-half hours, in the Sunday afternoon. Thottakkaattu Ramachandran, brought to Kannankulangara as a standby for the festival, ran from Kannankulangara to the crowded Statue Junction, before running towards Tripunithura Junction. “The tusker got frightened as the crowd followed him and some vehicles began to sound horn,” said the mahout after bringing the tusker under control. No causalities w...
2012-01-08 - Bangalore, India.
“Just as we were trying to get people to stay behind the perimeter, one man (Mr. Ramesh) broke the cordon and approached the elephants with his camera,” said a forest official. He was too slow to react to a charge by one of the elephants and was trampled. The crowd intervened and their howling and screaming made the animal retreat. But it was too late, said Police Circle Inspector H.S. Venkatesh.
2012-01-08 - Indore, India.
Elephant lovers are doing everything possible to see that the ailing jumbo at Mhow Veterinary College does not suffer from lack of medicine or diet. Elephant lovers from as far as Bhopal and other places are extending help to see the ailing tusker gets best possible treatment. The tusker was brought to Mhow from Kota in Rajasthan for treatment of congenital disease.
2012-01-01 - Hosur, India.
A 2-year-old calf, which came in a herd of 60 elephants, fell accidentally into irrigation well and died near Hosur on Friday. Forest officials said that the male calf along with 60 other elephants strayed into a field in a village near Hosur. It accidentally fell into the 20-feet well, which had no water. Though it had not suffered any serious injury on its body, it died of asphyxiation. Senior forest officials rushed to the spot and after retrieving the carcass conducted a post-mortem and buri...
2011-12-30 - JAMSHEDPUR, India.
The birth of two baby elephants has come as a boon for the villagers of Chandil block in Seraikela as it has stopped a marauding herd from wreaking further damage to crop and property in the area. On Wednesday, the wandering elephants razed about a dozen houses and destroyed crops in Kodidhar village.
2011-12-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Elephants in India may be considered an embodiment of Lord Ganesh, but the status of captive jumbos in Kerala is anything but divine. Experts say the lack of proper medical care as well as money-minded owners pose a serious threat to the magnificent beasts. According to 70-year-old veterinarian Jacob Cheeran, of the 14,000 elephants in captivity in the world, around 26 percent are in India.
2011-12-28 - Jaipur, India. Akshya Rout
On Sunday , Nanda Lal a Mahot from Uttar Pradesh left the village Trijanga after chained a 50 year old male elephant on the tree . The elephant roared in hunger and due to absence of its Mahot . After knowing this incident, we rushed to the village with veterinary doctors and six forest guards to provide proper food and medicine to the jumbo. A Mahout of a pet elephant left the chained jumbo in village Trijanga under Danagadi block of Jajpur district for two days for which thepanicked villagers ...
2011-12-16 - Tiruchi, India.
An elephant, visibly weak and with some injury above it´s hind right leg , which was used for begging alms, was chased away by police personnel at Srirangam on Thursday. Even as the mahout was directing the elephant to stand before each and every shop near the ‘Rajagopuram´, a large number of Iyappa devotees, after worship with folded hands, offered money.
2011-12-15 - Madurai, India.
V Sundararaj, an advocate and environmentalist is seeking to restrain the state government from conducting the elephant rejuvenation camp at Mudumalai, a public interest litigation was filed on Tuesday in the Madurai bench of the Madras high court. The petitioner said that the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve has the highest density of tigers in the country.
2011-12-15 - Chennai, India.
Beginning from Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government is organising a 48-day-long vacation for temple elephants in the wilderness. As many as 35 pachyderms are heading to a rejuvenation camp in Theppakadu reserve forest along the Moyar river in the Mudumalai hills. From a herbal diet to health screening and treatment for infections, the elephants will get to enjoy a stress-free life in the jungle environs.
2011-12-03 - Giridih, India.
A herd of elephants destroyed at least 35 houses in adjoining villages in Giridih district, rendering the dwellers homeless, the police said today. The animals raided villages under Kudko panchayat last night, trampled a few cattle to death and ate away grains, the sources said, adding angry villagers put up road blockade at Pirtand demanding compensation. The blockade was removed after Deputy Commissioner D P Lakra and DFO Asmita Pankaj went to the spot and announced compensations. The DC assur...
2011-11-30 - Coimbatore, India.
The orphaned elephant calf which was rescued from jungles on Sunday is finding its transit home, the Erode forest office, quite comfortable and responding well to treatment. The two-month-old male calf strayed from its herd and was found stranded near a pond in Chennampatti village in Anthiyur block on Sunday morning. Forest officials tried to reunite the calf with its mother. The officials took it to the forests and left him to the care of a herd. But the calf returned to the pond as the herd r...
2011-11-29 - ALAPPUZHA, India.
District collector Saurabh Jain on Monday issued stringent guidelines under the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules 2003 to prevent cruelty against elephants in the wake of the commencement of the festival season. If rules are flouted, action would be taken against the officers concerned, temple authorities, elephant owners and mahouts, he warned.
2011-11-28 - Jaipur, India.
One of its many popular tourist spots is the Amer fort that was constructed in the 16thcentury by Rajput King Man Singh. Located nearby is the village of Amer after which the Amer fort is named. But another thing, which makes the village special today are the number of elephants it houses. About 110 elephants are taken care of here by the mahouts or elephant riders of the village.
2011-11-27 - Hunsur, India.
A 25-year-old elephant was found dead with a bullet injury on its back near the Nagapura Tribal Rehabilitation Centre’s VI block on the fringes of Nagarahole National Park on Saturday. The pachyderm was pregnant. This is the 75th jumbo death in the Hunsur sub-division in the last one-and-half-year, according to Doddahejjur Gram Panchayat former
2011-11-14 - BARIPADA, India.
A huge herd of elephants sneaked into Khuntapal village in Mayurbhanj´s Rasgovindpur block at about 8 pm on Saturday, triggering panic among people. Before entering into Khuntapal, the herd prowled through Bhuraidihi and Kukudajodi villages of the block, giving forest officers sleepless nights.
2011-11-13 - Thrissur , India.
He was inaugurating the 4th State Conference of Kerala Elephant Owners Federation at Town Hall yesterday. Ganesh Kumar also announced the merger of Kerala Elephant Owners Association with Kerala Elephant Owners Federation.
2011-11-13 - Bangalore, India.
The forest department is all set to capture and relocate at least 30 elephants in December in Hassan district. While they await the central government´s permission for it, the forest department has begun preparations for one of the massive elephant captures of the country.
2011-11-13 - New Delhi, India.
This elephant tumbled into a hole while walking in a tea plantation in India, according to the video. The animal struggles to get off its back to no avail, as a crowd gathers and attempts to help. In what appears to be a last-ditch effort, some locals bring in an excavator to dig out the elephant and give it a few friendly pushes.
2011-11-13 - KOZHIKODE, India.
A 65-year-old man was injured when a wild elephant ran amok at a retreat centre at Kulathuvayal, near Chakkittapara in the district on Saturday morning. The tusker came from Mukkavala forest region and entered the centre by destructing the compound wall.
2011-11-11 - Mumbai, India.
Kerala’s famous Thrissur Pooram festival will be replicated in the city from November 11 to 13 at the KDMC stadium in Dombivili. Complete with gold caparisoned elephants, colour, dance and fireworks, the festival will aim to increase cultural exchange between the two states.
2011-11-08 - Burdwan, India.
An elephant twice flung a seven-year-old boy to the ground and trampled him to death in front of his parents, shortly after the child had a fun ride on its back here this afternoon. Vivek Sahani had just placed a ten-rupee note in the hollow of 30-year-old Anarkali’s trunk when the unexplained attack came.
2011-11-05 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
In a chilling reminder of last year’s elephant poaching spree in Similipal, three elephants were found dead in Ektalia forests under Karanjia forest division on Friday. Besides a male and a female, carcass of a calf was found. The tusk of the male elephant was missing fuelling fears of poisoning, as is suspected by the wildlife officials too. “A forensic officer will proceed to the spot on Saturday morning to collect evidence,” said Field Director Anup Kumar Nayak.
2011-11-04 - Trivandrum, India.
The wild elephant population in the Kerala forests has remained stable and healthy between 2007 and 2010, according the 2010 wild elephant census results received by the Forest Department this week. The 2010 census, according to what is called ‘block count method’ of enumeration, puts the number of wild elephants in the State’s wildlife sanctuaries and protected areas at 3,520. The same method of enumeration in the previous census conducted in 2007 had put the number at 3002.
2011-10-31 - Mysore, India.
If you missed the elephants´s procession during Dasara celebrations in Mysore, here´s another chance. The festival of elephants is being organized on Monday at Dubare elephant camp in Kodagu district where elephants and their masters will amuse the public.
2011-10-28 - Bangalore, India.
A three-month-old baby elephant, rescued from Kollegal Forest Division was brought to Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Thursday. The baby elephant is very weak, tender and suffering from malnutrition. It has been put into intensive care and is being closely monitored. With an addition of one more elephant, the total number of elephants in the BBP has gone up to 14, said R Raju, Executive Director, BBP.
2011-09-29 - Coimbatore, India. V. S. Palaniappan
The officials of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday conducted the second phase of morphometric measurement exercise for four of the 20 camp elephants. The ATR has an elephant camp at Kozhikamudhi near Top Slip. Camp elephants are subjected to morphometric measurement exercise every year to assess their health condition and to gauge the efficacy of the camp elephant management strategies.
2011-09-29 - Jorhat, India.
A person from the Lakhmijan area near Bokakhat forest beat office in Golaghat district was killed in an elephant attack on Wednesday while a herd of wild elephants killed a man on Tuesday night at Bubrighat Tea Estate under Patharkandi block in Karimganj district. Locals said a herd of wild elephant came out from the nearby Karbi Hills damaged the house of Kanchan Sinha, the deceased person and attacked him. However, the other members of his family managed to escape.
2011-09-27 - Raipur, India.
After giving sleepless nights for a week to the tribal people in forests of Surguja district, Chhattisgarh, a herd of wild elephants returned on Monday to the same pocket, forcing dozens of families to migrate to safe areas. A group of seven wild elephants entered two forest villages, Bakna and Bakdiha, in the wee hours.
2011-09-26 - Keonjhar, India.
Forest department employees on Saturday found the body of two adult elephants, one male and one female, from a remote forest in Ghungi village in Banspal block, about 30-km from here. Another elephant was run over by a train in Dhenkanal district. The 20-year-old male elephant was about 10-foot-tall and the 25-year-old female one close to 9 feet. Officials suspected the death of the elephants was caused by electrocution, as there were burn injuries on the bodies of both. There was no confirmed r...
2011-09-26 - Kochi, India.
The unnatural death of an elephant, suspected of Anthrax, at the Periyar Tiger Reserve a couple of days ago has raised fears of an epidemic outbreak. With Forest Veterinary officials suspecting symptoms of Anthrax in the animal, samples have been sent for detailed tests. A final confirmation will be made only after the results of the tests are out. It was last week that a female elephant was found dead at Vallakkadavu range, opposite to Nellikkampetti in the Thekkady range. The forest officials ...
2011-09-21 - Keonjhar, India.
In the wake of increasing cases of elephant deaths due to electrocution, the state government has sanctioned Rs 10 crore from the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (state-CAMPA) fund for upgrading and insulating electric cables in Telkoi forest range of Keonjhar forest division.
2011-09-19 - Mysore, India.
A new ‘ambari’ elephant is in the making. The 53-year-old Balarama, which carried golden howdah for 12 consecutive years, is likely to do the job for another three to fours years only. Tusker Gopi, who was brought from Dubare elephant camp this year to participate in the famed jumbo savari, is responding well to the training and has been chosen as Balarama’s successor.
2011-09-17 - Memnagar, India.
In a bizarre incident, a man sitting on an elephant was stoned by some children in Memnagar for no known reason. The man fainted on the elephant itself. What, however, followed was a scene that resembled a comedy Bollywood flick. The officials of 108 emergency service had to use two ambulances to get the man off the elephant.
2011-09-17 - Jorhat, India.
An elephant calf was injured in the Deusur area of Kaziranga National Park after being hit by a bus on NH-37 early on Friday. Forest department officials said the incident took place when a herd of jumbos was crossing the highway. "Although the other jumbos in the herd crossed the road safely, the calf got hit by the bus and was injured," said Burapahar forest range officer I Majid.
2011-09-16 - Chhindwara, India.
An aged elephant was put to sleep by poisoning here today as the animal, suffering from paralysis and other ailments, was very ill, forest department sources said. The elephant had been abandoned by a circus company after it suffered a stroke about two-and-half months ago, sources said. Since then it was in the care of Forest Officials in the Puama Depot. But its condition deteriorated, so the official decided to put it out of misery, sources said.
2011-09-16 - Dehra Dun, India.
A tusker was found dead today in Corbett Tiger Reserve here, an official said. The carcass of the adult elephant with its back portion eaten by a tiger was noticed by forest guards in Sarpduli range during patrolling, CTR deputy director C K Kavidayal said. A postmortem will be conducted to ascertain the cause of its death, he said. Another 11-year-old tusker was found dead in a paddy field at Halduchaur area in Nainital district yesterday.
2011-09-13 - Kochi, India. Jose Kurian
Just two days ago wild elephants went on a rampage after they strayed into human inhabitations in the hamlets adjoining the jungles of Palakkad district. Man-animal conflict is a continuing story in the State’s jungle zones. For thousands of families living either within the jungles or contiguous to them, life has become dangerous. The elephants, for their part, bear the brunt of man’s commercial greed that has blocked their natural corridors.
2011-08-18 - Jaipur, India.
A global campaign by animal right activists has led to cancellation of the day-long prestigious elephant polo tournament scheduled on Sunday and slated to be witnessed by who´s who of the corporate world at the Rajasthan Polo Ground here. The main sponsor of the event - Carlsberg India Pvt. Ltd. - withdrew on Tuesday in view of the growing opposition to the event as animal right activists from across the world had launched a campaign against it.
2011-06-08 - Mysore, India.
Two wild elephants have trampled a man to death and killed two cows in a rampage through an Indian city. The animals entered a suburb in Mysore, in the southern Karnataka state, from a nearby forest and soon caused widespread panic and havoc. A 55-year-old man was killed after coming out of his house to see what the commotion was all about.
2011-06-07 - Kochi, India.
A 42yearold elephant, which was suffering from serious injuries, died at Choondi near Muvattupuzha on Monday. The Forest Department has started looking into the circumstances that led to the death of the animal. Officials said the elephant died near Pariyaram Mahavishnu Temple where it was camped for the past few days. The mahout of the elephant Viswanathan also stayed near the temple. According to forest officials, tusker Nayarambalam Ramankutty, owned by the Nayarambalam NSS Trust, died on Mon...
2011-05-10 - Bangalore, India.
A seven year old elephant gave birth to a stillborn born baby elephant on Sunday night in Bannerghatta National Park. Nisarga (the mother elephant) went into labour at around 9.30 pm and give birth to premature 10 month old still born baby elephant. "The normal gestation period for elephants is in between 18 to 22 months, while in this case even the mother was only seven year old, as usually in elephants the right breeding age is from 14 years," Dr R Raju, Executive Director, Bannerghatta Biolog...
2011-05-06 - Kushalnagar, India.
It was a day for picnic at the Dubare elephant camp on Wednesday, which is gaining popularity as a major tourist attraction of Kodagu district. The elephants and their care-takers were treated to a feast by philanthropist D. Vinod Shivappa, a well-known coffee planter from Suntikoppa village near here. He also adopted two elephant calves that are star attractions for the visitors at Dubare.
2011-05-06 - New Delhi, India.
The Prime Minister´s Office has shot down a proposal to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority along the lines of one existing for tigers. The environment ministry had recommended an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act creating a powerful autonomous authority for the pachyderm. The authority was intended to create a network of elephant reserves which could be kept free of mining and other harmful industrial activities.
2011-04-19 - Coimbatore, India.
A four-year old elephant was found electrocuted in a village near here today. The elephant was found entangled in a snapped electric wire by villagers of Thalimalai near Periyanaickenpalayam, about 25 km from here. On being informed, forest department officials rushed to the spot, recovered the body of the pachyderm and conducted a postmortem, police sources said.
2011-03-21 - Hyderabad, India.
The five elephants in Nehru Zoological Park may not be relocated to a sanctuary. Highly-placed sources said that Nehru Zoological Park was one among the zoos, which had written to Central Zoo Authority (CZA) requesting an inspection before the relocation is carried out. Awaiting an inspection, the authorities are confident that it is offering an appropriate environment for this largest mammal.
2011-03-20 - Kochi, India.
Elephant owners in the state have increased the daily rentals of their elephants as temples in the state have ushered into this year’s festival season. They, however, justify the hike in rentals citing a variety of factors including the steep rise in the price of essential commodities and decreasing number of captive elephants.
2011-03-19 - Jaipur, India.
The unique annual Elephant Festival in Jaipur is all set to return in 2011. Celebrated along with Holi in Jaipur, Elephant Festival is one of the most popular festival in Rajasthan. As the name suggets the prime attraction of the festival are Elephants. The festival takes place at the Chaugan ground in Jaipur where Elephants participate in varieties of events to entertain the crowd.
2011-03-17 - AHMEDABAD, India.
Ashok and Roopa were one of the main attractions in the city zoo and after Ashoks sudden death on Monday, Roopa, the 22-year-old elephant who had spent 20 years of her life with him, stands alone today, calm and silent.
2011-03-12 - Bangalore, India.
The Bandipur National Park landscape harbours one of the highest densities of elephants in Asia and as per the latest census reports, there are not less than 6,000 to 10,000 elephants that roam free in these jungles.
2011-02-23 - Bangalore, India.
A tiger cub and a baby elephant were born at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) yesterday. Veda, a 12-year-old elephant, gave birth to the calf around 5.30 pm in the forest outside the park limits. The forest guards informed the BBP officers, who are expected to bring back the mother and calf to the BBP today.
2011-02-11 - Coimbatore, India.
After the killing of Veerappan, who is said have gunned down at least 100 elephants, there was a brief lull in poaching activities in the jungles that stretch from Sathyamangalam to Erode. That changed in 2007 when two tuskers were shot dead in Sathyamangalam forests. Since then, poachers have killed seven elephants.
2011-02-10 - Karaikal, India.
The famous Lord Saneeswara temple at Tirunallar in Karaikal district has got a female elephant calf from Karnataka in exchange for its fierce male elephant.The male elephant ´Ganesan´,gifted as a calf by a Tiruchi-based textiles baron in 2003, started behaving abnormally a few months back and remained restless, temple officials said.
2011-02-09 - New Delhi, India.
The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the central government and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to ensure ´conducive´ atmosphere for a pair of elephants to be sent to Germany from Karnataka, as part of an exchange programme in which two pairs of cheetahs would be brought to India. ´Ensure that the elephants live in a conducive atmosphere in Germany,´ said a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
2011-02-09 - Chittoor, India.
Two persons were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants on Andhra-Karnataka border on Tuesday. Forty others suffered injuries in the attack by the rampaging tuskers.
2011-01-02 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Forest Rangers of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary captured a two-year-old male elephant calf from the vicinity of Madarihat village in West Bengal´s Jalpaiguri District. The elephant calf was residing in and around the village located near the sanctuary for the last 13 days. The elephant calf had got detached from its herd few days back and later the herd probably refused its re-entry.
2010-12-27 - Bangalore, India.
Death of six elephants in 15 days due to bacterial disease haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) or Pasturellosis, has shocked forest officials and experts as they fear it may become an epidemic affecting about 5,630 elephants residing in a 9,751-sq km area.
2010-12-26 - Sanjay Gandhi National Park, India.
After drowning in Gadchiroli in 2007, Vimala has become the first pachyderm to be resurrected by taxidermists at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. On Saturday, Dr Santosh Gaikwad, placed a pair of eyes on a model of Vimala, an 80 year-old elephant, who died in a drowning accident in Gadchiroli in 2007. This making the country´s first taxidermy model of an elephant.
2010-12-25 - Haryana, India.
Despite a ban on elephant trading, jumbos can be bought and sold in Haryana thanks to loopholes in the state´s Village Cattle Fair Act (1970). The act, amended twice, continues to have elephants on its list of tradable animals at rural cattle fairs. The state act violates the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) that puts elephants in the protected category and bars their domestication.
2010-12-24 - Assam, India.
The thirty-hour ordeal of an Asian elephant calf trapped in a trench on a tea estate in eastern Assam ended on a happy note as rescuers successfully reunited it with its mother. Two captive elephants were deployed to keep the mother away from the rescue site as Assam Forest Department officials and an IFAW-WTI team helped the calf out of the trench.
2010-12-11 - Bangalore, India.
A rogue tusker, which had killed six people in the last six months, was finally captured on Thursday in Tiptur, near Honavalli in Tumkur. The tusker on Thursday morning trampled 28-year-old Yogesh to death in Honavalli near KR Katte. According to the deputy conservator of forests, Tumkur wildlife division, UP Singh, the elephant came from Arsikere about five months back and was camping here. Yogesh had gone to attend nature’s call, when he was trampled by the tusker.
2010-12-08 - Raipur, India.
Wild elephants trampled six people to death in Chhattisgarh´s Surguja district this year, Forest Minister Vikram Usendi said Wednesday. ´As many as six people were killed and 527 houses destroyed by elephants this year,´ the minister said in a written reply to Congress legislator Premsai Singh Tekam. Usendi said the government paid Rs.1 million as compensation to each family which lost a member in the elephant attacks. Over Rs.5 million was paid to people whose houses were brou...
2010-12-06 - Bhavani Sagar, India.
Sunday 2.45 a.m. at Bhavani Sagar, the captured tusker got off the truck and headed straight for its habitat, bringing joy to Forest Department officials, who had toiled for 72 hours. The jumbo had caused considerable tension when it entered a human habitat, and remained there for three days. The release of the over 25-year-old marked the end of a 20-hour-operation, perhaps Tamil Nadu´s first.
2010-12-06 - Thrissur, India.
In 2003, the Kerala Government introduced the Captive Elephant (Management & Maintenance) Rule, known as Rule 2003, whereby microchips and registration for captive elephants were made compulsory. To a large extent it resulted in reducing their illegal transportation. According to the 2009 census, there are about 695 elephants in Kerala, of which 196 are in Thrissur, a place known for elephant craze where caparisoned elephants are paraded in every function.
2010-12-03 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Five-year-old Kannan, the resident elephant at a Hindu temple near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala has been looking a bit long in the tooth. With its tusks too long to be able to eat, it is time for a visit from Vinayan, the elephant beautician. Vinayan was an elephant driver by profession but took to cutting and shaping elephants tusks that earned him the nickname of the "elephant beautician"
2010-11-27 - Thrissur, India.
Twenty-seven-year-old Devidasan had been enduring acute pain from a deep cavity in his tusk for the past five years. With the aim to alleviate the pain and repair and restore the beauty of Devidasan’s tusk, his owner, Forest Veterinary Officer Dr. V. Sunil Kumar, got in touch with Dr. C. V. Pradeep, conservative dentist and endodontist of Kannur.
2010-11-22 - New Delhi, India. Press Information Bureau Government of India
The Ministry is considering for setting up of the National Elephant Conservation Authority. The details are yet to be finalized. The population of wild elephants in the country as per the census done in the year 2007-08 is in the range of 27,669 to 27,719 as compared to a 26,413 estimated in previous census done in the year 2002. The population of elephant in the country is increasing not declining. This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent char...
2010-11-07 - Agra, India.
A 38-year-old elephant that was “lodged” at Loni police station here since last week was transferred to a rescue centre in Agra, where it will have a natural environment and also a companion. Last month, the mahout of the elephant, Bhola, reportedly tried to walk the elephant into Uttar Pradesh, without proper documents.
2010-11-06 - Haridwar, India.
In Haridwar, a woman and her two grandchildren were trampled to death by a wild elephant last night on National Highway at Moteechur near Rajaji National Park. According to Director of Rajaji National Park S S Rasaily the incident took place outside Motichur range of the national park last evening when five members of a family were attacked by the wild elephant. He told our Dehradun correspondent that a man and his one daughter managed to run away from the spot whereas three members of his famil...
2010-11-06 - Bangalore, India.
The Karnataka State Forest Department is gearing up for a two-day elephant census that will be conducted across most of the State´s national parks and sanctuaries on May 15 and 16. The census will be simultaneously carried out in the three other southern States — Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
2010-11-05 - Angul, India. Sangram Ranjan Nath
When Shankar arrived at Tikarpada Sakakosia wildlife forest, the villagers protested him. Shankar is now a well discussed elephant not only at Angul but also in Keonjhar area. Shankar a pet elephant who was enged for drive away the other wild elephant, and eco truism project at Telkoi Keonjhar district.
2010-11-03 - Guwahati, India.
Police in northeast India said Wednesday they had busted an elephant smuggling racket which is suspected of selling nearly 100 animals across the country and to Nepal. Two elephants, a mother and a calf, were seized when a police team swooped on a truck travelling across the state border from Assam to West Bengal at the weekend.
2010-10-27 - Jagiroad, India.
A day after the elephant was officially declared a Heritage Animal, entitling it to the same sort of protection as the tiger, a video has captured villagers in Assam beating a baby elephant to death. The three-year-old calf had was injured and had been abandoned by his herd. Villagers are seen in the video riding on the injured calf, while policemen watch.
2010-10-26 - Bhubaneswar, India.
After serving a term in confinement, tusker Nandan has a public service on hand. The forest department plans to use the 24-year-old tusker as a kumki (trained commando elephant) to tame wild elephants so that they do not destroy lives and property. On Monday, Nandan was transported to the elephant-training centre at the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary, 60 km from Bhubaneswar, from Nandankanan Zoo, on the outskirts of the Orissa capital, where he spent ten years in chains after unintentionally killin...
2010-10-26 - New Delhi, India.
Rajbhar Harmohinder Singh will forever rue the moment when he agreed to meet a ´foreign lady´ to try and sell her an ivory necklace. His dreams of the Rs 8.05 lakh illegal sale were horribly shattered when the man found out that his customer was none other than former environment minister, Maneka Gandhi. He was immediately put behind bars, sources said.
2010-10-22 - New Delhi, India.
The environment ministry on Friday declared the elephant a national heritage animal in order to step up measures for its protection. The ministry Friday issued a notification in this regard after the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) approved the proposal in its meeting held on Oct 13. The Elephant Task Force Aug 31 in its report had recommended the special status to elephants, saying the move will help in protecting the jumbos.
2010-10-21 - Lucknow, India.
Jaimala could be on its way back to Lucknow zoo. Reason: the elephant has perhaps not been able to acclimatise to the wild environs of Katarniaghat. Its inability to survive in the wild and learn performing the tasks meant for jumbos has led Katarniaghat officials to consider sending Jaimala back to its old habitat, Lucknow zoo.
2010-10-19 - , India.
Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary which is a popular elephant corridor will further be enlarged with the addition of Khanakpur Forest to its area. Currently Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary, a popular elephant reserve is spread over Belgaum, Karwar, Dharwad and Haveri districts of Karnataka. The addition of Khanakpur Forest adds further 64,643 hectares of forest area which consist of about 161 villages.
2010-10-18 - Mysore, India.
The 400th year of Mysore Dasara celebrations drew to a close with the famous Jumboo Savari and Torchlight Parade witnessed by a large crowd here on Sunday. Showcasing the cultural diversity of the State, the grand Vijayadashami procession marked the culmination of 10 days of festivities. With 132 cultural troupes from across the State, including 32 thematic tableaux, participating, the procession was the lengthiest in recent years. It covered a distance of about 4 km before terminating at Bannim...
2010-10-11 - Guwahati, India.
The carcasses of two female elephants were recovered from two separate places near Kaziranga today, barely five days after two elephants calves died of suspected poisoning at Diffloo tea estate near Kaziranga National Park. Preliminary investigations suggest that both the elephants, one of them pregnant, died of suspected poisoning.
2010-10-11 - Madurai, India.
A substitute mahout was injured after he was flung by a domesticated elephant which ran amok on a road in the city today, causing panic. Kannan, assigned to take care of the 26-year old elephant in place of its mahout Ashok Kumar, had attempted to feed it when it lifted him with its trunk and flung him, police said adding he suffered a fracture and has been hospitalised. The female elephant, brought here for a private function, then turned violent, broke free from its chains and started running ...
2010-10-08 - Raipur, India.
Dozens of families have migrated from a forested village in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district after a herd of wild elephants ran amok, killing a child and destroying several houses, officials said Friday. “Some 25 families of Panekatel village have moved to safer areas for a brief period after wild jumbos sneaked into their village Thursday night and trampled a three-year-old girl, Manisha, to death and demolished several houses,” an official at the forest headquarters here told IANS. Paneka...
2010-10-02 - Mysore, India.
Akin to politics, most of the elephants used in the Dasara procession are well above 50 years, considered an ideal age for retirement, according to veterinarians. The forest department, however, does not seem to be serious about preparing the second line of elephants to take over the mantle. Instead, what they have been doing is getting elephants to attend Dasara festival, for the last 10 years, devoid of any change and much thought.
Six jumbos-Srirama, Kanthi, Vikrama, Kavitha, Mary and Harsha were given a ceremonial welcome by the forest officials on their arrival. These elephants would be part of the first batch of jumbos led by howdah elephant Balarama to take part in the Vijayadashami procession, to be held as the grand finale of the nine-day Dasara festivities. In all, the 12 elephants would camp in Palace premises for the next 20 days till the Dasara celebrations come to an end.
2010-09-25 - Nagaon , India. Shib Shankar Chatterjee
What does it take to stop a herd of hungry jumbos each (around) 03-metres tall and middling over 04- tons in weight off paddy fields? Apparently, it´s a thread as thick as a fishing line and not nearly as strong. Villagers of Chapanala village area under Nagaon district of Eastern Indian State, Assam are finding out that their economy is literally hanging by a thread woven around their paddy fields to keep elephants away.
2010-09-23 - Jalpaiguri, India.
At least five elephants were killed and three others were injured on Wednesday when a speeding goods train hit the animals when they were crossing railway tracks near Binnaguri in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.
2010-09-23 - Coimbatore, India.
A furious circus elephant flung down her 55-year-old mahout, killing him on the spot at Krishnapuram near Udumalpet in Tirupur district late Tuesday night. Immediately, the police was called and Ghani was rushed to the Udumalpet Government hospital around 1.30pm. "He was declared brought dead´ by the hospital," said Madathukulam inspector K Kanagaraj.
2010-09-22 - Dibrujan, India.
Two elephants which were being smuggled to Myanmar were recovered from Jairampur town in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday night. One of the elephant which belonged to Jerela Moran was stolen on Saturday night from Dibrujan forest under Pengeri PS of Tinsukia district. The two thieves (both mahouts) were also caught by the villagers.
2010-09-21 - Chathapuram, India.
Tension prevailed for more than three hours in the Chathapuram-Kalpathy-Shekaripuram areas of the town on Tuesday as the elephant `Chathapuram Babu´ ran amok. The Tusker that was taken by its two Mahouts to collect palm leafs became wild and tried to attack them and ran amok. The elephant ran through the streets of Chathapuram, Kalpathy and Sekharapuram in the town creating scare among the people in the area.
2010-09-20 - Vamanjoor, India. Stanley Pinto
The elephant calf born to `Durga´ at Dr Shivaram Karanth Biological Park at Pilikula Nisargadhama here has been christened as `Radha´. The calf has been adopted by K G Shenoy, proprietor of Oasis Pharmacy, Dubai.
2010-09-20 - Thrissur, India.
A herd of wild elephants destroyed plantain and rubber crop at nearby Marottichal under the Pattikad forest range. Pattikad forest range officer, K Jayapraksh told PTI here today that the damage was yet to be assessed. It was suspected that wild elephants from Palappilly, Chimmini and Peechi forest areas might have entered the fields yesterday and destroyed the crops, he said. The locals, who saw the wild elephants destroying the crops, said that there were more than 10 elephants in the herd.
2010-09-13 - Mysore, India. R.KRISHNA KUMAR
This is that time of the year when elephants are in the limelight in Mysore. Elephants have been brought from the jungle camps to Mysore, to participate in the Dasara festivities to be held from October 8 to 17. Leading them is the elephant Balarama who will carry the 750 kg golden howdah on the day of the Vijayadashmi procession which is also called Jamboo Savari.
2010-09-12 - Dhamtari, India.
In Chhattisgarh, the police of Dhamtari district have arrested an elephant for killing a man. The elephant had been brought from Allahabad to a park for joyrides. Locals at the park started teasing the elephant and climbed on to its trunk. In spite of repeated warnings given by the elephant´s handler, the locals did not stop. Finally, in a rage the elephant flung a man in the air with his trunk.
2010-09-10 - Madikeri, India.
Two elephants from Kodagu Dubare elephant training centre, Harsha and Vikrama, are included in the team of elephants going to Mysore for the Heritage (Banni Mantapa) procession on Vijaya dashami next. They would leave soon to be in Mysore, the Range Forest officer Chinnappa informed. The two tuskers have already taken part in the Jumbo procession on Dasara Day in the last 15 years.
2010-09-07 - Siliguri, India.
Foresters of the Kurseong division on Friday recovered the carcass of a four-year-old male elephant calf from Simulbari Tea Estate near Sukna, near Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. Officials suspect the elephant died on Thursday night due to poisoning. The carcass was found on a spot where Guatemala grass had been planted to make the land suitable for tea plantation. Primary investigation suggested that the garden authorities had sprinkled pesticide on the grass, which the elephant might have consu...
2010-09-06 - Cuttack, India.
The Forest Officials have seized dead body of an elephant near Arati Steel Plant of Athgarh on Monday. The reason of death not known. As per the information the local peoples found a dead body of elephant near Arati Steel Plant. They informed the forest officials. The forest officials seized the dead body of the elephant and sent for postmortem.
2010-09-06 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Orissa, famous since the times of King Ashoka for its magnificent elephant population, will soon lose that exalted status in view of large-scale killing by the poachers and increasing death of pachyderms from electrocution. According to official figures, during the last 19 years 231 elephants were killed by poachers, 166 died due to accidents and 173 died of natural causes.
2010-09-04 - Udhagamandalam, India.
After being thwarted for three days by two tuskers in their efforts to treat an injured jumbo, forest officials today succeeded in tranquilising the animal which was moving around Mudumalai Tiger Reserve area. The 20-year old elephant, with serious injuries to the leg, was roaming in Sigur range in MTR, under protection of the two tuskers, for the last three days and the veterinarian and medical team could not go near it, forest officials said. However, the veterinarian managed to shoot the tran...
2010-09-04 - Jalpaiguri, India. Tarak Sarkar
An elephant under the care of the Gorumara National Park near West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district gave birth to a female calf. The calf was born on Friday under the supervision of the sanctuary’s veterinarian. The forest rangers and game wardens at the Gorumara National Park are delighted to watch the gentle mother Amon and the tiny cute calf. Range (South) Officer of the Gorumara National Park Bimal Debnath said both the mother and its offspring are healthy.
2010-09-03 - Bangalore, India.
A 13-year-old tusker was killed on Friday following crop raids by a herd of elephants. The tusker was shot at by villagers in Periyapattan range. "Villagers killed the elephant in a rage after the herd raided the crops. We are compensating all crop raid cases. Yet there is so much anger among people," principal chief conservator of forests, B K Singh said.
2010-09-03 - Nagaon, India.
A male elephant has been found dead at the courtyard of a house inside Kalidan tea estate near Nagaon in Assam. It´s unusual for an elephant to die in such circumstances unless electrocuted. Workers at the tea estate insist the elephant died of natural causes. 255 elephants have died in Assam as a result of conflicts with humans between 1990 and 2003. Most of them were poisoned or electrocuted.
2010-08-31 - New Delhi, India.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday said the elephant would soon be declared a national heritage animal in order to step up measures for its protection. We will soon declare elephant as a national heritage animal as they have been part of our heritage since ages. We need to give same degree of importance to elephant as is given to tiger in order to protect the big animal, said Ramesh.
2010-08-27 - Siliguri, India.
A four-year-old tusker was found dead in a tea garden in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district Friday, forest officials said. The elephant’s body was found in Simulbari tea garden in Siliguri sub division. Preliminary investigation revealed that the elephant died of poisoning after possibly having eaten plants treated with fertlisers. However, a final conclusion could be drawn only after the viscera report arrived, said a forest official.
2010-08-19 - Siliguri, India.
An adult elephant blocked railway tracks passing through Mahananda wildlife sanctuary two times today and damaged a train engine. The drama unfolded between Sevoke and Gulma stations around 9.45am when the driver of a passenger train that was on way to New Jalpaiguri from Alipurduar noticed the adult makna (male without tusks) standing on the tracks.
2010-08-19 - Khulna, India.
Traffic along the National Highway-31.C (NH-31.C) in India´s eastern state of West Bengal came to a standstill for nearly an hour. A fully-grown wild elephant, probably from Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, had strayed onto the highway and almost lorded over the road not letting any vehicle move an inch ahead. The vehicles on the highway had no other option – they were forced to wait until the pachyderm moved away leisurely at its own will.
2010-08-17 - Mumbai, India.
It took three years for Sarish Pandey, a dealer who supplies animals to films, to realise that he was undone by his greed. In June 2007, Pandey signed a gift deed with a Kerala-based animal dealer to trade his elephant for a pregnant one, hoping that he will get two in exchange of one. But little did Pandey know that giving away Lucky Prasad, who he had nurtured for 28 years since his birth, would rid him of all his luck.
2010-08-16 - Udhgamandalam, India.
A 35-year-old elephant in ´musth´ is missing from Theppakkadu Elephant Camp, about 60 Km from here, since yesterday afternoon. The elephant, Waseem, was under chain and lock for the last couple of days and kept in an isolated place near Mayar river, in the camp, forest department sources said. The Elephant´s disappearance was noticed only in the night, sources said. Forest officials, including those from veterinary department, are searching the entire Mudumalai range for the an...
2010-08-06 - Chennai, India.
With more than 50 per cent of the 300 temple elephants in Tamil Nadu suffering from diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, authorities have drawn up a food and exercise regimen for the jumbos and directed the mahouts to strictly follow it. An official of the Tamil Nadu government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department said the plan had been drawn up to ensure proper care of the elephants.
2010-08-05 - Madurai, India.
Parvathi, the 15-year-old female elephant of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here, is basking under a new shower system installed exclusively for its use. Put into operation on Wednesday, the shower will use 5,000 litres of water a day for the elephant, which will be cleaned once in the morning and evening. The shower was installed at a cost of Rs. 20,000. The move follows a meeting of the temple authorities and individuals owning elephants convened on July 2 by the Chief Conservator of Fores...
2010-08-03 - Keonjhar, India.
Three engineers of a private power distribution company in Orissa have been booked for the deaths of three elephants by electrocution in Keonjhar district, an official said Tuesday. The engineers of the North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Ltd (NESCO) were booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, Divisional Forest Officer Sarat Chandra Mohanty told IANS.
2010-08-03 - Chennai, India.
Tamil Nadu government is likely to ban the age old practice of elephants ´blessing´ pilgrims in temples. Wildlife officials have asked temple authorities to put an end to the practice as trainers torture the elephants, compelling them to ´bless´ pilgrims, sometimes leaving them injured. Moreover, elephants like humans suffer from diseases like asthma and tuberculosis and it might spread to pilgrims, the authorities said.
2010-08-02 - Bhubaneswar, India. Debabrata Mohanty
Field staff of Simlipal Tiger Reserve, the fourth-largest tiger reserve in the country, burnt a large number of elephant carcasses to remove any evidences of poaching, a probe committee of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has found. After a number of elephant deaths were reported in April and May 2010, the NTCA constituted an independent assessment team comprising wildlife activists Belinda Wright and Biswajit Mohanty, who visited Simlipal between June 6 and 11. The team confirme...
2010-08-01 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Three wild elephants were electrocuted in a forest area of Orissa´s Keonjhar district, an official Sunday said. The two male and a female elephant died near Durlabhapur village under Telkoi forest division, some 210 km from Bhubaneswar after coming in contact with a high-tension overhead wire, a district forest official told IANS. Wildlife and forest officials rushed to the spot and began investigation after local residents spotted the dead elephants early Sunday.
2010-07-31 - Dudhwa, India.
Once Lucknow Zoo’s priced possession, Sumit, a 55-year old male elephant, died at the Dudhwa National Park in the wee hours of Thursday. The pachyderm was shifted to the national park on May 2 last following directives of the Central Zoo Authority to shift all elephants to national parks. According to veterinary doctors attending to the ailing elephant, Sumit was suffering from various old-age related diseases and could not recover even after proper medical care.
2010-07-27 - Hyderabad, India.
The Environment, Forest, Science and Technology department has permitted the Andhra Pradesh Wild Life warden to provide an elephant from the Nehru Zoological Park for the Bonalu and Moharrum processions. However, the permission would be only for this year.
2010-07-27 - Sonitpur, India.
A couple and a child were trampled to death by wild elephants in the Biswanath Reserve Forest in northern Assam´s Sonitpur district late on Monday night. The incident occurred on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. From 2007 to 2009, Assam has recorded a total of 166 human deaths and 32 elephant deaths in incidents of man-elephant conflict. The figure shows an increasing trend, with 44 human deaths recorded in 2007, 52 in 2008 and 70 in 2009.
2010-07-27 - Rishikesh, India.
A woman was today trampled to death by a wild elephant in Jim Corbett National Park, an official said here. The incident occurred in Jhirna range of Jim Corbett Reserve this morning when Tulsi Devi (45) along with other women went to the jungles to fetch fodder. She was suddenly attacked by the pachyderm, Warden of the Park Umesh Chandra Tiwari said.
2010-07-26 - Chikmagalur, India.
Will the 8.3-feet-elephant tusk recently seized by the forest department in Chikmagalur find a mention in the Guinness Book of Records? "The tusk, which weighs an amazing 44 kg, found in Chikmagalur should easily make it to the Guinness Book of Records. The size and length of the tusk makes it a rare find," said a forest department official.
2010-07-22 - Gumla, India.
A woman was trampled to death and another injured by an elephant in Gumla district of Jharkhand on Thursday. The 65-year-old woman and her neighbour were in a field at Gonmar village when the pachyderm attacked them, the police said. The elephant had strayed into the village earlier this week and efforts were on to drive it animal back to the forest.
2010-07-18 - Anekal, India.
Two farmers died following wild elephant attack near Tattekere-Chudahalli area in the Mahadeshwara forest range, in the Bannerghatta National Park limits on Sunday. The killed are identified as Motanna (60) of Chudahalli and Shivanegowda alias Huchchanna(68) of Tattekere. A small pathway of about 5 KM in the forest between Chudahalli and Tattekere makes the travel easy for the villagers.
2010-07-15 - Chennai, India.
Separated from the herd when it was barely two weeks old and then rehabilitated at the Vandalur Zoo, a four-month-old male elephant calf still yearns for the love of its mother. Longing for maternal warmth and refusing to eat properly, Giri stands emaciated, causing concern to veterinarians, mahouts and other forest officials taking care of him.
2010-07-14 - Corbett National Park, India.
Swinging mid-air like a rag doll, this monitor lizard was in for a rough time when a playful elephant took a fancy to it. The unlucky creature had been swept off the ground and was carried around for a number of days by Madhuri, an Indian elephant. With tail firmly clamped in the animal´s trunk the lizard was swung around and occasionally put back on the floor.
2010-06-22 - Kunda, India.
Celebrations have marked the opening of India´s first "elephant village" in the northern state of Rajasthan. Fifty-one houses have been built in the village of Kunda to house the mahouts - keepers - and their elephants.
2010-06-04 - Palakkad, India.
A wild baby elephant fell into a well in Palakkad district of India´s southern Kerala state on Thursday night. The four-year-old elephant fell into the well when it entered the residential area of Vadakkethara along with its herd. The locals came to know about the incident early in the morning on Friday and informed the forest department immediately. A huge crowd of locals gathered near the well to help the officials in rescuing the elephant. The animal is unhurt and is swimming in the wel...
2010-06-01 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A dozen elephants were found killed in Simlipal forest during a recent census, shocking officials and underscoring the threat to the animals from organised poaching gangs. The needle of suspicion also points towards some forest officials, who may be hand in glove with the poachers. Regional chief conservator of forests (RCCF) Ajit Bhartuar, who spoke to TOI from Baripada, admitted the deaths had taken place but did not agree with the number.
2010-06-01 - Cuttack, India.
The Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) has demanded a CBI probe into the recent mass killings of elephants in Simlipal Tiger Reserve. WSO has put forward its request in a letter to Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh. A CBI investigation is required to know the role of field forest officers as to whether they connived with the poachers in at least four cases, there was an effort to destroy evidence by burning or burying the bones, WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty said today.
2010-06-01 - Lucknow, India.
The elephant census, which recently concluded in Uttar Pradesh, has shown a decline in the population of pachyderms. While the number of elephants has dropped in Bijnor and Nazibabad reserves, there is a marginal increase in the elephant population in Shivalik forest division as compared to the 2007 census figure.
2010-06-01 - Thekkady, India.
A hunt is underway for a rogue bull elephant accused of killing at least 10 female elephants during a testosterone-induced sex rampage in Kerela. A task force has been formed consisting of 15 experts to track the killer elephant through the Periyar forest. Eight females were killed last year, before another two gored corpses were found last month.
2010-05-31 - Dudhwa, India.
For the first time, elephant census has kicked off in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. As part of the project, the findings will be a part of Project Elephant. "As we did not have a sizeable elephant population here earlier, the census never took place. Now, due to the increase in the visibility of elephants, the Centre and the state governments decided to begin the census," said Sanjay Pathak, Deputy Director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
2010-05-24 - Radhanagar, India. Stephen Adams
Perched between the tusks, an Indian mahout or elephant driver is photographed on his steed in this arresting image. It was taken in the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, where Rajan, a 60-year-old elephant, lives. But in 2002 logging was banned in the islands and most of the 200 elephants were sent back to the Indian mainland.
2010-05-24 - Lucknow, India.
The elephant census that took place last week in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve has recorded the presence of 11 tuskers in the area. While the figure is much less than the 37 elephant sightings reported a week ago by the forest department, authorities claim the reduced number could be owing to the elephants moving to Nepal.
2010-05-21 - Jaipur, India.
The much-awaited Indias first and the worlds third elephant village, after a delay of over two years, is now finally just awaiting a formal inauguration. The project that is envisaged to provide basic comforts for the pachyderms at Amber, might just bring some respite from the heat for the jumbos.
2010-05-17 - Nagercoil, India.
Fifty-seven elephants, including 13 calves, were found in Kanyakumari district during a two-day elephant census conducted by the forest department, a senior official said today. This showed an increase of six elephants over the 2008 census figures, District Forest Officer Sundara Raju told reporters here.
2010-05-15 - Bangalore, India. Bosky Khanna
Volunteers for the elephant census that will begin on Saturday were imparted training on Friday afternoon on how to identify an adult, sub adult and juvenile elephant based on the height, skin colour, and tusks in case of a bull elephant. They were also given directions on how to collate information in data sheets regarding the total number of elephants in a particular season, pachyderms in various age groups, members of each sex and tuskers in the adult and sub adult categories.
2010-05-09 - DEHRA DUN, India.
A man was trampled to death by an elephant on Saturday, triggering a clash between villagers and forest guards at Bishanpur Kundi village in Haridwar district, the police said. The incident took place when the man was quarrying sand on the bank of the Ganga river and the elephant came rushing and trampled him. The man died on the spot. The forest guards who reached the spot were gheraoed by villagers who were upset over the incident.
2010-04-28 - Periyar Tiger Reserve, India.
Wildlife experts in southern India are hunting a rogue bull elephant who is thought to have gored 12 female tuskers to death because they spurned his sexual advances. The Times of India said on Wednesday that a 15-member taskforce has been set up to catch the aggressive male, called Alpha, who has been on the run in the jungles of Kerala state for the last three years. Keralas chief wildlife warden, K.K. Srivastava, said eight female elephants were found dead in the vast Periyar reserve between ...
2010-04-28 - Bankura, India.
Even as the shooting of a rogue elephant in West Bengals Paschim Medinipur district led to a controversy, Forest Department officials said that a rescue centre for “problem elephants” in the region is being contemplated. “A rescue centre for rogue elephants has been planned and the Divisional Forest Officer in Bankura has been given the task of identifying land for this purpose,” said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) S.B. Mondal.
2010-04-23 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The much-awaited elephant census began in Orissa with the deployment of around 10,000 officials of the Orissa Wildlife Department. The latest census will determine the exact number of elephants in the state. The officials have been provided with necessary equipments and given due training to undertake their work. The counting of elephants will last for three days. It would be conducted in about 129,700 sq km of forest area in Orissa. According to a 2007 census, there were 1,862 elephants in the ...
2010-04-23 - Thrissur, India.
A task force formed to protect elephants and their habitats across the country is to meet here April 30, an official said. The task force of Project Elephant, a government scheme, was formed in February and the meeting in Kochi would be its first sitting. Project Elephant, which is being implemented in 13 states, also addresses issues of man-animal conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants.
2010-03-31 - Mayapur, India. Hari Sauri Dasa
At about 8.00 AM on March 30 2010 Mayapur received its newest resident– Vishnu-priya the baby elephant. After a tortuous 2 years of negotiation Hrmati Dasi performed the practically impossible task of bringing a new companion for Laxmi-priya from Assam to her new home in the holy dhama.
2010-03-28 - Mumbai, India.
Laxmi and Anarkali, the two female elephants at the Byculla zoo, have no past record of unruly behaviour, say zoo officials. However, Sundays incident, where Laxmi, the 55-year-old female pachyderm killed a man who entered the enclosure, goes to prove that wild animals can be unpredictable, if provoked, say experts.
A zoo visitor who had sneaked into an enclosure was killed by an elephant today, the first such incident in the 149-year history of the city zoo. Apparently alarmed by the presence of a stranger, Lakshmi, 70, kicked the man, who was in his forties, has not been identified and is suspected to have been on drugs. Another female elephant, Anarkali, 50, was in the enclosure with Lakshmi, but there were no mahouts or workers, all having gone for lunch.
2010-03-27 - Cooch Behar, India.
Wildlife wardens have found the carcass of an adult cow elephant in the Chilpata Forest Range of West Bengals Cooch Behar District. Bania Range forest officials were patrolling the area, when they discovered the dead elephant. A divisional forest officer and veterinarians were called in to determine the exact cause of death.
2010-03-21 - Trivandrum, India.
Who doesn’t love elephants? If you love them as much as I do and would like to see some on your trip to Kerala, here are the best places to find them. If youd like to spot elephants in Kerala in the wild youll need to visit one of the national parks. Of course, sightings aren’t guaranteed, but if you do get lucky it will be an exciting experience.
2010-03-21 - Balasore, India.
An elephant died of prenatal complications in Kuldiha sanctuary of Balasore district yesterday while giving birth to a stillborn calf. Sources said, the calf was in an upside-down position never seen by vets and Forest officials, which made the birth complicated. “We couldnt do a caesarean section on the elephant as we dont have any facility here,” said forest ranger Sarat Behera.
2010-03-16 - Kerala, India. John Mary
As the drumbeats reach a crescendo in temples across Kerala, with the festive season coming into its own, tragic tales of elephants goring their mahouts to death are casting a shadow on the revelries. There have always been stray incidents of the odd tusker running amok, squashing roadside shops and overturning vehicles, but the pattern emerging now is far more disturbing: these intelligent, sensitive animals are turning serial killers.
2010-03-16 - Karnataka, India. Shyam Sundar Vattam
Because the forest cover is shrinking, elephants have no other option but to raid villages in search of food. They turn rogue, and the government hasn’t been able to tame them, owing to a shortage of tranquillisers. The districts of Mysore, Hassan, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar have a large population of jumbos. The number of elephants has increased manifold. According to an estimate, there were around 2,500 elephants till a few years back in the State and now the population has crossed the 5,000-...
2010-03-16 - Khuti, India.
Two elephants were electrocuted Monday when they bumped into high tension wires in Jharkhands Khuti district, an official said Monday. The incident took place near Nimidin village, some 60 km from here. District forest officer Manel Tudu said elephants come regularly to the area in search of wheat crops. It seems one elephant hit an electric pole and snapped the high tension wires.
2010-03-13 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam forest department is contemplating mercy killing of a 25-year-old female elephant that was seriously injured after being hit by a goods train at Deepor Beel on February 28. A senior official of the Guwahati wildlife division, which is looking after the elephant, said the animal was in pain and finding it difficult to even walk inside the Rani reserve forest, where it is being kept at present.
2010-03-03 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A young tusker was killed by poachers in Kulunda forest of Orissa’s Angul district, a forest official said Wednesday. The wild elephant received bullets below its ears and on its head. Villagers reported the incident to forest officials, who tried to locate the elephant. But the animal succumbed to its injuries and its dead body was recovered deep in the forest about 200 km from here. “We tried to trace the elephant all through the day. But we could not find it. Before we could treat it, it ...
2010-03-02 - Belgaum, India.
Chikkodi police on Sunday arrested eight persons for "allegedly" smuggling ivory and recovered two pieces of 3-foot-long ivories worth Rs 60 lakh from them. The accused have been identified as Arif Sangolli, Peeraji Raut, Saleem Pathan, Sadanand Masekar (all from Belgaum), Wilson Soza, Govind Sutar, Mahadev Ghatage and Yashwant Tanbolke (all from Khanapur).
2010-03-02 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant hired for a Hindu wedding in India caused over £200,000 in damage after trying to reach an in-heat female. The turned-on mammal crushed 20 limos trying to get to the female in a nearby sugar cane field in the Indian capital New Delhi. He then mounted and attempted to mate with a truck, and smashed through a shopping mall in a 15-hour rampage, reports the Metro.
2010-03-02 - Guwahati, India.
The female elephant was one of two knocked down by a train. The other elephant which was pregnant was seriously injured. It gave birth after the accident. The baby was rescued by forest guards and sent to the Guwahati Zoo for treatment.
2010-02-28 - Guwahati, India.
A goods train knocked down a herd of five elephants crossing the track on the outskirts of the city, killing two of them and injuring three others, including a calf, today. Assam state zoo director Narayan Mahanta said the herd was crossing the track along the Deepor beel to drink water when they were hit by the train around 12.15 pm. Last year, one elephant had died at the same area.
2010-02-26 - Ootacamund, India.
Tension is simmering over a proposed elephant corridor in the Ooty foothills. While conservationists say this is essential to restore the man-nature balance, farmers and property owners are questioning the state government's decision to acquire 7,000 acres of fertile land for it.
2010-02-26 - Meerut, India.
An elephant wreaked havoc on the streets of Uttar Pradesh's Meerut city after being abandoned by his keeper. Named 'Happy', the elephant became unhappy when abandoned and ran amok for the next 18 hours along the city's main highway, trampling vehicles and neighbouring farmland.
2010-02-25 - Guruvayur, India.
A 72-year-old elephant of the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple here died at the jumbo park in the temple town today. Ramachandran had been keeping indifferent health for the last few years, a temple official said. A favourite of elephant lovers, Ramachandran was donated to the temple by the royal house of Zamorins of Malabar in 1942. He was retired from temple duties 10 years ago, in-charge of the elephant park Kunnathur Kotta said.
2010-02-25 - Dudhwa, India.
One person was killed and several injured when a herd of elephants which had apparently strayed in from Nepal went on a rampage in a village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said Thursday. At least eight people were reported to be severely injured and crops worth thousands of rupees were damaged over the past two days, with the pachyderms trampling everything and anything that came in their path in the vicinity of the Katarniya Ghat Tiger Reserve, that falls under the extended pa...
2010-02-25 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Wildlife authorities here are imparting special patrolling training to rescued elephant calves at the Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri District. Buddhadeb Mondal, a forest ranger at the sanctuary, said six calves, ranging from three to four days to a year, are being trained.
2010-01-15 - New Delhi, India. Archana Jyoti
It's a new year gift to nearly 1,000 elephants and other wild species who can now wander freely without any human interference through the Kollegal corridor in Karnataka. This has been made possible by an NGO, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) supported by its partner ? the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) which has purchased nearly 25 acre-Kollegal (Edayarhalli?Doddasampige) elephant corridor from private ownership and transferred to the state government.
2010-01-14 - Raipur, India.
At least 29 people were trampled to death by elephants last year in Chhattisgarh, one of the worst states hit by man-elephant conflict, the state assembly was told Thursday. Forest Minister Vikram Usendi told the house that the government was trying to find a permanent solution to the decades-old man-elephant conflict and is willing to set up “elephant villages” in state’s northern region, comprising Surguja, Jashpur, Koria, Korba and Raigarh districts.
2010-01-14 - Thrissur, India.
The mahouts of three elephants were injured in three separate incidents in Kottayam and Thrissur districts on Saturday and Sunday. Gopi of Chorimanthiyil House in Idukki - mahout of tusker Venattumattom Kithappilly Rajan - was seriously injured when the elephant attacked him after it ran amok at Mundakkayam on Sunday. The tusker which is being used for transporting timber has a history of masth, alleged the Elephant Lovers Association. Gopi is undergoing treatment at Kottayam Medical College.
2010-01-02 - Guwahati, India.
Four wild Asiatic elephants, including two calves, were mowed down by a speeding goods train Saturday in Assam, officials said. A railway spokesperson said the incident occurred near Walingdisa railway station in Karbi Anglong district, about 270 km east of Assam’s main city Guwahati. The train was transporting petroleum products.
2010-01-01 - Tirupati, India.
An elephant ran amok at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara near here today, creating panic for a while. The six-year old temple elephant Avanija panicked after a stray dog came close to her, temple sources said. Devotees, who had thronged the temple on New Year's Day, ran helter-skelter. In the melee, two persons received minor injuries, the sources said, adding they were treated as out-patients at a local hospital.
2009-12-27 - Bangalore, India.
The recent poaching of two elephants in the Bannerghatta National Park has prompted the Forest Department to set up two anti-poaching camps in the national park near the inter-State border with Tamil Nadu. This is the first time that the anti-poaching camps are coming up in the area. Two tuskers were found shot dead in the Harohalli range of the Bannerghatta National Park near the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border on Saturday. While the tusks of one elephant were removed, those of the other were intac...
2009-12-22 - Pune, India. Vivek Sabnis
Circus may soon phase out elephants after an order from Central Zoo Authority. The popular Rambo circus will probably not have its most famous elephant trick this season. And this is because the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is contemplating to move all elephants from the zoo and circuses to wildlife parks and sanctuaries.
2009-12-17 - Kochi, India. theanand
2009-12-14 - New Delhi, India.
The government has not taken any decision to free all captive elephants to wild, the Rajya Sabha was told today. However, a decision to rehabilitate captive elephants only from zoos to the wild has been taken, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, who is currently holding the charge of Environment Ministry, said in a written reply.
2009-12-13 - Siliguri, India.
A herd of 20 wild elephants damaged a tea garden in the Dooars region here on Saturday. The jumbos were first sighted by tealeaf pluckers on Saturday morning. The elephants came in from the nearby forest. They were roaming around in the tea garden and also uprooted plants. They were chased from the other side as they came in here, said Niranjan Roy, a resident.
2009-12-09 - Mumbai, India. Lata Mishra and Mitali Parekh
After years of campaigning by animal rights organisations, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) passed an order last month making it mandatory for circuses and zoos across the country to free their elephants and relocate them in sanctuaries, camps and reserves. However, authorities at the Byculla zoo - which received a notice to this effect last week - are worried the shift will be too traumatic for their two elephants.
2009-12-07 - Raipur, India.
About a dozen cops on duty at a police station in Chhattisgarh ran for cover when they found a herd of wild jumbos roaming in the complex, authorities said Monday. We are always prepared for any Maoist attack but we never thought of facing jumbos. We ran for cover when eight wild elephants entered the police station premises late Saturday, Assistant sub-inspector Krishna Singh told IANS.
2009-12-07 - Kendrapada, India.
The sighting of elephants in human habitats is not a new phenomenon, especially to people living in villages bordering the forests. But the problem comes when these tuskers descend in herds, rampaging through farmlands and destroying crops, thereby robbing the only sustenance of the peasants in these villages.
2009-12-07 - Kendujhar, India.
It was no isolated incident, when an elephant attacked Pipilia village in Ghatagaon and killed a 30-year old youth on Friday. Kandarpa Mohanta, a small trader and resident of nearby Toranipokhari village, came face to face with an elephant while going to the market on his cycle. It was the fifth incident in the past six months in the area.
2009-12-04 - Kottor, India. R. Ayyappan
There are plans to transfer a nine-year-old she elephant called Sreelakshmi from far north of the State in Neeleshwaram to the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre here in Kottur. If this happens, the Forest Department would make history. The elephant will be the first one to be seized by the Department from a private owner in the State.
2009-12-02 - Mumbai, India. Alaka Sahani
After impressing critics at the Mumbai Film Festival, director Aijaz Khan’s debut feature film White Elephant is being shown in the Indian Panorama section of the Goa Film Festival. How was it directing an elephant? Oh! it was difficult and it needed patience, but it was such an exhilarating, enriching and moving experience that I’ll never ever forget it.
2009-12-02 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam forest department has requested the Centre for funds to acquire private land in elephant corridors for better protection of their habitats. This was disclosed today by Assam’s principal chief conservator of forests, Suresh Chand, at a workshop on Training of Trainers on Advancement of Elephant Heal-thcare and Managerial Practices. The 11-day workshop is being supported by the centrally sponsored Project Elephant. The course has 20 participants, including local experts and resource pe...
2009-12-01 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam zoo is not in a position to abide by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) directive of sending all its elephants to national parks or wildlife sanctuaries immediately. The zoo authorities said of the 12 elephants, two were pregnant and hence they could not be sent now. They will have to wait for at least a year. “We are keeping a close watch on the health of the elephants and would not be able to send them for another year,” a zoo official said.
2009-12-01 - Coimbatore, India. VR Jayaraj
Human beings have much to learn from the sociology and “humane” nature of elephants, and the bonding among the giant animals as seen among a herd in the Amaravathy forest area in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu is beyond description. Forest department personnel here have been passionately watching how a herd of elephants have been guarding a pregnant elephant from attacks of animals.
2009-11-30 - Coimbatore, India.
In a touching instance of animal bonding, a herd of elephants has been guarding a fully pregnant pachyderm for past few days in Amaravathi forest area of the district to prevent it from being attacked by other wild animals. While one group moves around this elephant monitoring her movement and preventing possible attacks by other elephants and wild animals, others go and fetch food and water and come back by evening.
2009-11-30 - Bangalore, India.
Autopsy has revealed that the 30-year-old elephant found dead near Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Sunday, was, in fact, shot dead, sending shock waves among conservationists and forest officials. Speaking to DNA, principal chief conservator of forests BK Singh said that one bullet was recovered from the female pachyderm's brain and another from the back. Alibis suggest that the first bullet might have hit her back, and the second bullet the forehead, killing her on the spot, he said.
2009-11-29 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Poachers have killed a young tusker for ivory in the forests of Sangramal in Orissa's Sambalpur district, officials said Saturday. The elephant was brutally killed and the mutilated body was discovered by villagers lying in a pool of blood. The villagers informed the forest officials about the elephant's death. The animal's trunk was chopped into several pieces to extract the ivory.
2009-11-26 - New Delhi, India.
Painting a grim picture of rising man-animal conflicts in the country, the government on Wednesday said as many as 1,090 people were killed by wild elephants, 11 by tigers and three by lions in various states in the last three years. "The states have reported damages of 15,312 houses and 87,269 cases of crop damage by wild elephants in the last three years," environment minister Jairam Ramesh said in Lok Sabha while replying to a written question.
2009-11-25 - Assam, India.
Angry over frequent depredation by wild elephants, an influential students' group Wednesday threatened an indefinite shutdown of tea plantations in Assam. The immediate provocation for the Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association (ATTSA) to threaten to cease work was the killing of five plantation workers in separate incidents by rampaging elephant herds in northern Assam in the past one week.
2009-11-25 - Rourkela, India.
About 300 families in four villages in Orissa's Sundargarh district have left home due to fear of elephant attack, officials said. The residents of Ramjodi, Khatagbeda, Gosaitali and Baratoli villages along the Orissa-Jharkhand border left home last night and took shelter in school buildings, they said. A herd of 40 elephants have crossed over to Orissa from neighbouring Jharkhand and destroyed about 25 houses in these villages, besides damaging standing crops.
2009-11-23 - Mumbai, India.
The elephant may be an enduring, lovable icon which draws thousands of wildlife tourists to India every year, but officials are desperate to find ways to control them amid increasing numbers of attacks on humans. A Mumbai engineer has discovered the answer: The 'Violent Elephant Control Gear', a remote control immobiliser which tethers marauding pachyderms at the press of a button.
2009-11-22 - Chennai, India.
A four-year-old sub adult cow elephant died at Vandalur zoo, on Friday due to a suspected attack of herpes virus. The zoo authorities said the elephant, Chellamma, was rescued from the Andhiyur forests in Erode district and brought to the zoo in 2005. Since Friday morning, the animal refused food. Its head started swelling and administration of prophylactic medicines also did not help.
2009-11-21 - Kanpur, India.
After steady improvement in the health of the blind female elephant, Champa, found abandoned a few days ago, the forest authorities shifted the pachyderm to Kanpur Zoo on Friday. Chanda Devi, who had claimed that she owned the elephant, disappeared again on Friday. District Forest Officer B R Ahirwar said: “In view of the poor diet and cruelty towards the animal by the owner, we decided to shift Champa.”
2009-11-12 - New Delhi, India. Neha Lalchandani & Deeksha Chopra
Delhi Zoo will soon be bidding farewell to its three elephants. In fact, elephants will no longer be seen in any zoo or circus in the country after the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) issued a notice on Monday to the effect that all of these animals in zoos, numbering about 140, should be sent to national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves as soon as possible.
2009-11-10 - Rangamati, India.
A herd of the wild elephants killed Kye Ching Marma, 40, son of Chai Kye Marma of village Dongnala in Bangalhalia union council under Razasthali upazila of the district, while he was working at his ginger plantation on Saturday evening, said sources in police. On the same day, the marauding wild elephants trampled Suruj Bangalee, 55, to death at Rajnagar in Gulshakhali union council under Langadu upazila of the district.
2009-11-07 - Udalguri, India. Jayanta Kumar
Nature lovers have expressed serious concern at the electrocution of another female wild elephant ,who had been carrying a near matured calf at Bhutiachang TE on the night of November 4/09.According to information received a 14 years old female wild elephant was electrocuted at section No. 6 of Bhutiachang TE.It has been learned that a herd of wild elephants numbering 25-30 had been seen roaming in the locality for a few days. Unfortunately, a female elephant got stuck to low lying high voltage ...
2009-11-05 - Calcutta, India.
Hall, who is a London-based journalist, joins the hunter, Dinesh Choudhury, on a mission to shoot a tusker that had been killing people brutally in Assam’s forests. The hunt brings Hall face to face with the crucial issues of man-animal conflict that always stand in the way of effective conservation, whether of forests or of animals.
2009-11-05 - Angul, India.
A tusker from Nandankanan Zoo, trained to carry tourists in Satkosia forest of Orissa, went berserk and killed its mahout (keeper) at Tikarpara, about 60 km from here, official sources said today. The mahout, identified as Bimal Das, was taking the elephant out of the forest yesterday when the animal attacked him and pierced its tusk into his body, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), S Mishra said.
2009-11-03 - Guwahati, India.
Another elephant died of electrocution at Bhutiachang tea estate in Udalguri district late last night, triggering concern among environmentalists over increasing deaths of elephants that come in contact with civilisation. The female elephant died when it came into contact with high-tension transmission line at Section-1 of the tea garden. The forest department has lodged an FIR at Paneri police station in this regard.
2009-11-02 - Darjeeling, India.
Farmers are erecting fences in an attempt to save their crops from elephants menace in Kolabari village of Darjeeling district. Herds of elephants going on rampage and destroying agricultural fields, is a common site here. The Terai (foothills) belt of Darjeeling is spread up with massive tropical rainforest and is the home to a number of wild animals.
2009-11-02 - Midnapore, India.
Residents of Daha, Bhadutola in Salboni are spending sleepless night since Friday evening. A herd of about 60-70 elephants has come to the area from Dalma hills. The animals have destroyed huge quantities of standing paddy crop and a number of houses. While villagers are too scared to chase away the herd, forest officials, too, seem wary of venturing in the area after PCPA-backed Sidhu-Kanu militia squad ransacked and burnt Silda forest range office and Binpur beat office at Champaboni on Thursd...
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.
2009-10-30 - New Delhi, India. New Delhi
Concerned over the increasing incidents of elephant-human conflicts, the Centre will hold a high-level meeting with jumbo-range states here next week to find ways to improve their habitat. "Almost all states are grappling with increasing jumbo-human conflicts due to habitat degradation resulting in disappearance of corridors," A N Prasad, Director of Project Elephant, said.
2009-10-30 - Dooars, India. Andrew Gadsden
The Dam Dim (or Dumdim) Tea Estate has been ravaged by elephants in a recent incursion. The incident happened 10 Oct 09, when a herd of elephants from the Baikunthapur jungles entered the Dooars tea gardens during the night. The animals became stranded, and destroyed a number of bushes as they tried to find a way out.
2009-10-27 - Kumargram, India.
IN 2007, the village of Kumargram in the Indian state of West Bengal became the focus of international attention. Shortly after dawn, a truck driver made a remarkable discovery – five elephants lay dead in the dry bed of the Raidak River. Rumours of the spectacle spread fast and a crowd gathered. For India's many Hindus, the elephant is sacred, so the death of a whole family of the animals was a tragedy.
2009-10-26 - Sonepur, India.
Sonepur, 22 km away from Patna, is famous for hosting month-long Asia’s largest cattle fair commencing from November 1. An elephant `bazaar’, which always draws crowds because of big demand for the elephants from the southern parts of the country, will also come up soon. Besides, it’s a fair of dance, music and `masti’ and, as such, it draws tourists from all over India and abroad.
2009-10-25 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Wildlife authorities in Assam have warned that the human-elephant conflict has reached alarming proportions with villagers poisoning to death at least four wild elephants in the past three weeks by lacing toxic chemicals in homemade moonshine. According to wildlife officials, the latest incident of an adult male poisoned to death was reported Saturday from village Chechapani in Goalpara district, about 170 km west of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
2009-10-25 - Jaldapara, India. Pinak Priya Bhattacharya
The forest department has decided to stop elephant safari in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary following the recent incidents of rhino poaching. This has robbed the sanctuary of one of its biggest attractions. The withdrawal of the elephant safari, forest officials claimed, would deny poachers access to the core area of the sanctuary. The forest officials strongly believe that poachers often took the safari in the guise of tourists to locate the rhino habitation and the tracks followed by the pachyd...
2009-10-24 - Kodanad, India.
Forest officials have detained six mahouts and seized three elephants, which were being brought for an ad shoot near here, as they allegedly did not have valid documents. Under the Captive Elephant Management Rules, if an elephant is transported from one district to the other, it should possess transit pass from the district from which it was coming, forest officials said.
2009-10-23 - Guwahati, India.
The carcass of a full-grown female elephant, suspected to have died of poisoning, was found this morning at Orangajuli tea estate along the Indo-Bhutan border in Udalguri district. This is the sixth elephant to have fallen prey to the rising cases of man-elephant conflict along the border the district shares with Bhutan. Eleven persons have been killed by elephants since last November.
2009-10-18 - Guwahati, India.
The Assam government has set up joint co-ordination committees in every district for monitoring the maintenance of the transmission lines to prevent electrocution of elephants. The committees set up recently in the wake of a rise in such incidents across the state will ascertain whether the guidelines issued by the ministry of environment and forests and the Central Electricity Authority have been followed.
2009-10-17 - Erode, India.
The elephant population in the district is expected to increase from 200 to 220 after the current enumeration, as also migration of pachyderms from other places to this district, according to district forest officer Jaghanathan. He told reporters here yesterday that the enumeration was underway and would soon be completed.
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....
2009-10-15 - Guwahati, India.
Assam’s trained elephants — experts in chasing herds of wild pachyderms from human habitats — will be taken to Orissa and Chhattisgarh to help the two states tackle the rising menace of the man-elephant conflict. The two states sought the Assam forest department’s help to tackle the crisis. Assam’s principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Suresh Chand told The Telegraph today that Chhattisgarh has selected a few trained elephants, known as kunkis.
2009-10-12 - Purulia, India.
A villager was killed when wild elephants strayed into a village in Jhalda range of Purulia district today. Forest officials said the 12-member herd strayed into Sikarpahar village from Dalma hills in adjoining Jharkhand and went on a rampage destroying crops and flattening mud houses. One Brajabhusan Mahto was trampled to death as he fell before the herd. Locals protested to the forest officials as attempts were on to drive away the herd to its habitat.
2009-10-11 - Guwahati, India.
An elephant was electrocuted near a tea garden in the Kathiatoli area of Nagaon district, about 140 km from here, on Saturday. The carcass of the pachyderm was found near Kandoli tea estate. Forest officials said it was an accident and not a case of retaliatory killing. "The elephant died after its trunk touched a livewire near the tea estate. It was not killed by human beings," Nagaon divisional forest officer A Ahmed said.
2009-10-11 - Mysore, India.
State Bank of India (SBI) has adopted two Asian elephants from Mysore Zoo. SBI Chief General Manager Arundhati Bhattacharya handed over a cheque for Rs. 3,19,140 to Zoo Executive Director Vijay Ranjan Singh last evening for the maintenance of two elephants Rama (aged 14 years) and Kollegala
2009-10-11 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A herd of elephants from the jungles of Baikunthapur strayed into a tea estate in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district and destroyed shrubs at the tea gardens. The herd entered the Dumdim Tea Estate located in Dooars region from the nearby forest during the night. On losing their way in the gardens, the elephants could not move out before dawn.ith the break of dawn, the workers came out and found the animals stranded in the middle of the garden area.
2009-10-11 - Chamarajnagar, India.
A 25-year-old female elephant was found dead at a farm owned by Rangya Nayaka of Kotkere village under Omkar forest range in Gundlupet taluk. Sources said that the animal had died in 'mysterious circumstances'. A post-mortem was conducted. Meanwhile, villagers in the area staged a protest against the increased movement of wildlife and subsequent crop loss in villages near the forest. They alleged that forest officials— who refuse to assess reports of crop loss— turn up only to look into the ...
2009-10-11 - Guwahati, India. SIVASISH THAKUR
The elephant population in the North-east – among the last bastions of the Asian elephant – has recorded an alarming decrease since the past one-and-a-half decade. As per official data, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal which make up the bulk of the elephant population in the North-east, have now (2008 census) a combined population of 8,782 as against 10,498 in 1993; 8,952 in 1997 and 8,721 in 2002. Compared to 2002 figures, there has been a marginal increase in the number in Assam (35) and Aru...
2009-10-09 - Jaldapara Sanctuary, India. Sankar Ray and Rajen Pradhan
Forty-year-old Sakuntala died of her intense romantic forays. She had no semblance of Sakuntala in the great poet Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Sakuntalam. This Sakuntala was a female element, born in 1969. Sakuntala had been desperately in love with Makhana for several years and one day felt an urge to rush to her love, in early July this year. She broke her fetters and tore off after him, but as a result her left leg was wounded as nails pierced through the leg. Profuse bleeding began immediately y...
2009-10-09 - EERATTUPETTAH, India.
A tusker gave vent to its ire by attacking a private bus at Mukkuzhy on the Poonjar- Pathampuzha road on Thursday afternoon. The vehicle was smashed mercilessly by the elephant, while the 40 passengers inside it had a miraculous escape as they jumped out and ran to safety. However, the driver of the bus sustained injuries to his hand. Karnan the tusker had reportedly `marked' the bus, Ann Mary, while it was proceeding to Pathampuzha when the driver frightened it by sounding the horn in high-pitc...
2009-10-08 - Keonhjar, India.
A 45-year-old tuskar was electrocuted in the Champua forest range area. The carcass was seized on Wednesday and buried after postmortem. The tusker died after it came in contact with an 11 KV power line that was hanging at a low-level. Assistant conservator of forest (Keonjhar) Trilochan Mohanty said, "The full-grown tusker was killed when it came in contact with 11 KV line. It was supposed to be at 13 feet but was hanging at 10 ft." There were burns on the trunk, left leg and near the left tusk...
2009-10-08 - Gumla, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled one person to death and created havoc at Kharka village about 13 kms from here on Tuesday afternoon. Jaggu Sahu (65) was working in his paddy field when a huge tusker rushed towards him, lifted him by the trunk and repeatedly smashed him to the ground. The critically injured Sahu was rush to Gumla Sadar hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The herd comprising 22 elephants also damaged standing paddy and other crops at Kharka village and adjoining area ca...
2009-10-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
As rest of the country is celebrating Wildlife Week beginning October 2, Orissa today chose to make noises about jumbos which are under an increasing pressure from rapidly growing urbanisation and industrialisation. Like the previous years, the Wildlife Wing today showcased the elephants at Nandankanan Zoo in a bid to spread awareness among the students and visitors in general. A few kilometres away, a 6.3 km nature’s trail was thrown open in the core of Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary, home to 67...
2009-10-05 - Guwahati, India.
Areas bordering Bhutan in Udalguri district now resemble a battle zone amidst an escalating man-elephant conflict, with disturbing consequences for both. A spurt in the conflict has claimed the lives of six elephants this year, with the past one month alone witnessing the death of three elephants. Equally damaging has been the fatality on the human side, with about eight persons trampled by elephants in the past one year.
2009-10-05 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The skull of a wild elephant has been found in a canal in a forest at Kummannoor in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district. The Wildlife Department was examining the remains of the jumbo to ascertain whether it died of natural cause or a victim of poaching, a senior Wildlife official said today. "We can arrive at a conclusion only after detailed examination of the skull and a few pieces of bones found in the forest," P Pukazhenthi, Divisional Forest Officer, Konni division, told PTI.
2009-10-05 - Kollam, India. Ignatius Pereira
Just eight of the 695 captive elephants in the State turned up for the ‘Gajadinam’ (Elephant Day) celebrations organised by the Forest Department in five places on Sunday to mark Wildlife Week. The Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation boycotted the celebrations in protest against the alleged failure of the Forest Department to implement important decisions taken at a meeting between its representatives and Forest Minister Benoy Viswom. The organisation also alleged harassment by the departme...
2009-10-04 - Jamshedpur, India. KUMUD JENAMANI
If the state forest department has its way and the injured baby elephant rescued from a Ghatshila village a bit of luck, the latter will soon be reunited with its family. The department has put its officials posted at Rajabasa and Bhurudih jungles in Ghatshila on alert to locate the estranged family members of the calf, which is recovering at Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur. Once the herd is spotted, efforts will be made to send the baby elephant back to it.
2009-10-03 - Bhubaneshwar, India.
The coastal state may emerge as a beacon of hope for Assam's phandis (traditional elephant catchers), who have been virtually rendered jobless after trapping of wild elephants was banned in the northeastern state in the 1980s. Wildife management experts are thinking of utilizing the expertise of phandis for mitigation of human-elephant conflicts in Orissa.
2009-10-02 - Guwahati, India.
It is more of the “sweet taste” of country liquor than the lush green paddy fields that has resulted in an increase in man-elephant conflicts along the foothills of Himalayas in Udalguri along the border with Bhutan. The Udalguri forest department today requested the district administration to carry out drives on country liquor dens to pre-empt more elephant attacks.
2009-10-02 - Hyderabad, India.
DQE, the AIM listed, India based animation, gaming and live action entertainment group, is pleased to announce the development and production of a live action TV series, 'Toomai The Story of an Elephant Boy'. Adapted from Rudyard Kipling's 'Toomai of the Elephants' and entirely produced by DQE, this 26 episode series has an estimated production budget of EUR7.5 - EUR8.5M, to be raised by pre-sales and scheduled to be concluded shortly.
2009-10-02 - Rourkela, India.
Elephant poaching is on the rise in Bonai forest division of Orissa's Sundargarh district where two wild tuskers were killed within a week. Forest officials said an elephant was found dead in dense area of Barsuan forest range yesterday and its tusks were found missing. A similar incident was reported last week in Tamara range of the forest division. B N Samal, ranger of Barsuan forest range said an inter-state gang of poachers was involved in the incidents. All pre...
2009-10-01 - Dumka, India.
Dumka forest department may have been successful in rescuing tame circus elephants, but has miserably failed to control increasing man-animal conflict in tribal villages. The threat of elephant attacks increase in this time, when farmers harvest their paddy and brew hadiya to celebrate several festivals. Vairabpur village under Jama block in Dumka recently was attacked by a heard of 17 elephants who destroyed standing crops, stored foodgrain and mud houses.
2009-10-01 - Jamshedpur, India. Kumud Jenamani
The forest department is pinning hope on ayurvedic medicines to cure the injured baby elephant that was rescued from Rajabasa jungle in Ghatshila on Monday. The calf’s condition has deteriorated. A.T. Mishra, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Dhalbhum, said: “We are looking for an ayurvedic expert who can treat the baby elephant.” He added that they were not very optimistic about the recovery of the calf, which had fever yesterday and stopped eating. It was also suffering from diarrho...
2009-09-29 - Tirupati, India.
Six devotees were injured after a baby elephant ran amok at a temple procession in the southern Indian state of Andra Pradesh on Monday. The authorities claimed that the young pachyderm became startled when bells began clanging loudly during a festival at the Tirupati Balaji temple. Chaos ensued as the assembled crowds scrambled to get out of the charging animal’s way.
2009-09-29 - Mysore, India.
The 10-day Dasara celebrations ended here on Monday with a march by caparisoned elephants and tableaux showcasing the cultural diversity of the State. The culmination of the procession at Bannimantap Grounds signalled the conclusion of the Naada Habba , which has emerged as the principal face of tourism promotion in Karnataka. The main attraction of Monday’s festivities was the caparisoned elephants which led the procession, followed by folk dancers and musicians. The 52-year-old elephant Bala...
2009-09-28 - Bamunjuli, India.
In view of the recent clashes between man and elephant in Assam particularly in Udalguri and Sonitpur district,which had resulted deaths of four wild elephants and five people so far,WWF (World Wildlife Fund ) authority along with a few NGOs organized an awareness camp at Bamunjuli tea garden, near Indo-Bhutan areas on September 21 at 2pm.With the focal theme aware “ Problems and sufferings : an open discussion” ,the awareness camp had been organized by WWF India North Bank Landscape Prog...
2009-09-28 - Mysore, India. Eugene Moodubelle
Dasara is the festival that is being celebrated throughout India as the celebration of the victory of the good over the evil. However, the mode and the fervour of the celebration differ to a great extent across the country. In different parts of India, Dasara has been celebrated in different ways. In some regions it has been celebrated as Navratri, some observe it as Vijayadashami, in Bengal and Eastern India, devotees celebrate it as Durga Puja and in other regions, especially in Karnataka it i...
2009-09-27 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Since April, at least 17 elephants have died in Orissa, boasting of the largest jumbo population in the eastern region. Their number has risen and so has their misery. In the last 10 years, approximately 400 pachyderms have died in Orissa. The decade also marked an upswing in mineral and industrial activities. Besides encroaching habitats of elephants through increasing mining as well as urbanisation activities, large-scale infrastructure such as road network and railway lines have led to fragme...
2009-09-26 - Mysore, India.
Unlike previous years when the Jumboo Savari was peppered by cultural troupes from Karnataka, this time, performing artistes from Tamil Nadu and Kerala will spice up the programme along with tableux of displaying military and technological expertise. The city is getting ready for the D-day amidst the rain holding out a threat to Monday's celebrations. Folk artistes have arrived to cheer up Mysore, tableaux are getting finishing touches to portray Karnataka's vibrant art and culture and the polic...
2009-09-24 - Varanasi, India.
Police claimed to have busted a gang of ivory smugglers in the temple town by arresting five persons from Narottampur Colony and seizing ivory worth over Rs one crore. "We have arrested five persons last night and recovered about 100 kg smuggled ivory from a house in the Narottampur area," Vijay Bhushan, city SP, told PTI. He said that three machines used in the nefarious trade have also been seized from the house.
2009-09-22 - Dhenkanal, India.
A tusker was found dead in Dandeibereni forest in Gondia block under Sadangi forest range today. After being informed, a team of Forest officials headed by DFO M M Panigrahi visited to the spot and sent the carcass for post-mortem. A forest guard first spotted the carcass of the 12-year-old tusker in the forest. DFO Panigrahi said the elephant is suspected to have died after consuming pesticide-laced crops. Farmers have applied pesticides on crops in the region.
2009-09-22 - Suri, India.
A herd of elephants damaged a house at a village in Birbhum on Sunday night. Though foresters tried their best to drive the herd away, the pachyderms played hide-and-seek with them all night. The incident occurred in Patalpur village under Rajnagar police station. Rabin Chatterjee, a forest department official, said: "The herd broke into the village from a forest in Jharkhand.
2009-09-21 - Bhagalpur, India.
Rules have been framed to protect animals, but for four elephants caught in transit here, their enforcement could well lead to their deaths. The elephants, all belonging to a circus, have been refusing food for the past 40-odd hours — since yesterday when forest department officials seized three trucks in which they were being ferried from Bihar’s Bhagalpur to Burdwan in Bengal.
2009-09-21 - Guwahati, India.
A two-member committee has suggested adoption of a systematic approach in areas prone to human-elephant conflicts to determine the efficacy of deterrent crops. The committee comprising WWF-India official Amit Sharma and B.S. Bonal of the state forest department was set up by Dispur on July 18 last year. It submitted the report recently. A systematic approach should be adopted in conflict-prone areas to determine the efficacy of deterrent crops. The deterrent crops popularly used in Assam should ...
2009-09-19 - Dumka, India. Rajesh Kumar Pandey
The condition of four elephants of Ajanta Circus is fast deteriorating because they have been forced to remain in standing position since Friday. Forest officials had seized three trucks carrying six elephants, nine dogs and two horses on Friday because the truck drivers had failed to relevant documents required to carry the animals to Burdwan (West Bengal) from Bhagalpur. The drivers were The drivers were arrested, but the mahouts managed to escape.
2009-09-19 - Kollam, India.
Almost two and a half years after he was born in captive at Puthenkulam near here, the elephant calf Sivan was weaned from his mother Lakshmi on Friday evening. Captive elephant management expert, B. Aravind who supervised the weaning process said that it was a mammoth task. Puthekulam Shaji who owns Lakshmi was not aware of the pregnancy when he purchased her from Bihar late in 2006. Sivan was born on April 2, 2007 and till Friday he was always besides his mother and her milk, his staple diet.
2009-09-19 - Bankura, India.
An 18-day-old elephant calf died after it fell into a small waterbody while roaming with its herd at Chanchor forest in the Bankadaha forest range in Bankura early on Friday. The calf was born in this forest after the herd about 25 elephants wandered from the Dalma forests a few weeks ago. The elephants come into the South Bengal forests in search of food during this time of the year, their breeding season.
2009-09-18 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Captive elephants, used by the forest officials to supervise the area, enjoyed a royal treat at the Jaldapara Sanctuary in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The forest officials use elephants to supervise the area since most of the sanctuary is inaccessible by vehicle or on foot. Every year on the occasion of Vishwakarma puja, the jumbos get the much-awaited annual holiday.
2009-09-17 - Haridwar, India.
A cow elephant was gored to death by a tusker in Dhaulkhand range of Rajaji Park in Uttarakhand, officials said today. The incident took place yesterday after the two elephants fought over mating and the pachyderm pierced its tusks into the stomach of cow elephant resulting in latter's death. The postmortem report confirmed its death as a result of a violent struggle, they said.
2009-09-16 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Long seven years after the Central government requested Odisha government to put in place a perspective plan to reduce human-elephant conflict, the state has finally announced to finalise a plan for proper management of elephant corridors. The state government on Tuesday said that it would prepare an elephant corridor management plan in the next six months. The decision was taken at a high level meeting that was chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
2009-09-15 - New Delhi, India.
Herds of wild elephants straying from shrinking habitats in Orissa and Jharkhand have killed at least 30 people in Chhattisgarh so far this year. "This year at least 30 persons have been trampled by jumbos who come from Orissa and Jharkhand where their habitat has shrunk," N K Bhagat, Chattisgarh chief wildlife warden said.
2009-09-14 - Sonitpur, India.
Battling for life for about a month with two bullet wounds in his head, a wild tusker succumbed to his injuries in Sonitpur district on Sunday afternoon. The carcass was spotted in a paddy field adjacent to the Behali Reserve Forest, about 180 km from Guwahati. A senior forest official said the elephant was about 20 years old and 6.5 ft tall.
2009-09-14 - Haridwar, India.
An elephant trampled to death one person and injured another at Chiriapur forest range today, official sources said here. The incident took place early today when the elephant attacked two men sleeping on the loft in a paddy field at Kategarh village. While Ikmal Singh (35) died on the spot after being hit against the ground repeatedly by the pachyderm, Sandip (36) managed to run from the spot. However, he received back injuries in the attack.
A male elephant without tusks was today found dead in Khanpur forest range near the Rajaji Park here, a forest official said. The body of 40-year-old pachyderm was noticed by a priest of a temple at Dhaluwala area who informed the forest officials, said Divisional Forest Officer of Haridwar R B Pathak. Pathak ruled out poaching behind the death of the particular breed of elephants called"Makhna"which does not have tusks.
2009-09-12 - Guruvayur, India.
The efforts of Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee in implementing Scientific Elephant Management practices at Punnathur Aanakotta is an exemplary initiative, said Devaswom Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran here on Friday. The minister was inaugurating the newly- built Anakottil and launching the training curriculum and functional literacy programme for mahouts at the Punnathur Aanakkotta. The managing committee has done a laudable work in taking care of devaswom-owned jumbos, he added.
2009-09-08 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants. Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district. Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.
2009-09-07 - Thrissur, India.
Two tuskers ran amok and blocked traffic on the NH-47 between Marathakkara, near here, and Chalakkudy for over 2 hours on Sunday. The incident created panic among the passengers who were stuck in various vehicles on the highway. Elephants Mahadevan and Ayyappan, both owned by Uttoli Krishnankutty, ran amok while being taken through the NH-47 from Marathakkara to the residence of the owner at Amballur. Though the mahouts managed to chain Mahadevan, the other tusker could not be brought under cont...
2009-09-06 - Bhubaneswar, India. Sandeep Mishra
There seems no end to relief camps in Kandhamal. Last week, the administration shut down its two remaining camps for ethno-communal riot victims, only to set up two more on Sunday. But the new camps are meant for people who lost their houses to marauding elephants.
2009-09-05 - Udalguri, India. Jayanta Kumar Das
Another shocking example of the death of a baby wild elephant in Udalguri district has come to light to much disappointment of people. Instead of finding the cause of death, the dead body was dumped quickly without performing the postmortem. The incident has raised several questions regarding the safe movement of the wild elephants in the district in view of the so called man elephant conflict.
2009-09-05 - Kochi, India.
The burial of an elephant, which reportedly died of anthrax in Perumbavoor on Thursday, has kicked up a controversy. There are allegations that the pachyderm was buried, near the Muvattupuzha river, unscientifically and could pose a threat of polluting the river, a source of potable water in the district. The Elephant Lovers Association has demanded an inquiry into the death of the elephant. It was on Thursday that Unnikrishnan, an elephant owned by a saw mill owner in Perumbavoor, died.
2009-09-05 - New Delhi, India.
The increasing number of developmental projects coming up near jungles is taking a toll on the Indian elephant. Over 45% of elephant deaths in the past decade were caused by electrocution, experts say. Senior officers of Project Elephant said this has been the trend for the past many years and that they are "concerned" as they can't stop the projects for the sake of elephants.
2009-09-05 - Rajkot, India.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Bhavnagar police busted an ivory smuggling racket and seized ivory jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh on Friday. Elephant tusks weighing around three kilograms, jewellery made of ivory, mainly bangles, weighing over seven kg, along with 87 kg of raw ivory were recovered from a local businessman in the city.
2009-09-01 - Patna, India.
An elephant Wednesday trampled a young man to death in a village in Saran district of Bihar, police said. Madan Thakur, in his 20s, was killed by the elephant near Chamrahiya village in Saran. Thakur was attacked by the elephant when he was on his way to a nearby market. “When he was passing the elephant, it suddenly turned violent. The animal attacked Thakur and killed him,” a police officer said. The forest officials have taken the animal into their possession and a case has been registere...
2009-08-26 - Bangalore, India.
How angry can you get at an animal? Though human-animal conflict is a regular event with more and more wild habitats being encroached, wrath like this is rare. A farmer near Bandipur reserve shot a young elephant dead when she was about to enter his farm on Wednesday. Even while crop compensation packages have almost been tripled, fear and intolerance still persist among farmers who live on the border areas.
2009-08-25 - Jaipur, India.
In what can be described as a blow to elephant tourism at the Amber Fort, a 25-year-old she-elephant that had run off to the hills on Sunday died under mysterious conditions on Monday. Officials of the state forest department refused to go into the details of the death but hinted that the elephant had received severe injuries. However, others present on the spot were of the opinion that the elephant died due to an overdose of tranquillisers.
2009-08-24 - Theppakadu, India. D. RADHAKRISHNAN
Mudumalai came alive on Sunday during the Vinayaka Chathurthi celebrations. A remarkable feature of the festivities was the participation of elephants belonging to the Theppakadu camp of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Though rain dampened the spirit of the festival in some parts of the Nilgiris, at Mudumalai the celebrations were marked by considerable enthusiasm. Witnessed by a large number of devotees and tourists, including a few foreigners, 17 elephants were given a bath in the Moyar river and...
2009-08-23 - Koramore, India. Jayanta Kumar
The eight years old female elephant which had been mercilessly tortured by locals near Koramore on August 9 was rescued by forest and civil administration under police and CRPF protection on August 11.It was given first aid veterinary treatment for several days under the guidance of Dr.KC Chamua, VAS, Tangla.
2009-08-23 - Chennai, India. Barnabas Tiburtius
Today is the festival of Ganesh Chathurthi. A day to worship the God who removes all obstacles. Though Ganesha considered as son of Shiva and Parvati, the Matsya Purana, Shiva Purana, and Skanda Purana ascribe the birth of Ganesha to Parvati only, without any form of participation of Shiva in Ganesha's birth.
2009-08-22 - Thattekad, India.
Residents and forest officials found the bodies of two baby elephants that probably slipped and drowned from a steep upstream due to heavy rainfall near Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala. Officials presume that bodies slipped due to very heavy rainfall the night before, which had led to temporary flood-like-situation in the region. Both the babies must have slipped and flown over, that is the reason we assume deaths have happened, said Thomas Varghese, forest ranger of the Thattekad Bird Sanctu...
2009-08-20 - Guwahati, India. Prabin Kalita
Assam has asked the Centre to lift a 1982 ban on mela ‘shikar’, a traditional way of trapping wild jumbos with the help of domesticated elephants. "We want the Centre to withdraw the ban so that we can acquire wild elephants and domesticate them for government duties," said state forest minister Rockybul Hussain on Thursday. The jumbos are needed for carrying guards and tourists in wildlife sanctuaries, transporting EVMs and polling officials to remote areas. Besides, trapping wild pachyderm...
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.
2009-08-15 - Golaghat, India.
An elephant was attacked and seriously injured by a tiger in world-famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP), forest officials said today. The six-year-old female elephant was attacked by a tiger in the northern part of the Park and its hind legs were injured last night, KNP director S N Buragohain told PTI. The elephant, which had its ears torn apart in the incident, was being treated at the camp office of the Park where her condition was stated to be stable, he said.
2009-08-15 - Gudalur, India.
A trek into the wild turned tragic for two French tourists at Gudalur in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. An elephant attacked them on Friday killing Annie Delyotal (65). Her son, Frederick (39), escaped with minor injuries. The duo, residents of Isle-sur-Marne in northeastern France, arrived in Bangalore on August 11. They checked into a jungle resort at Bokkapuram village near Masinagudi, about 12 km from the Mudumalai tiger reserve, on Thursday. They two were led to jungles in a jeep with...
2009-08-14 - Mysore, India.
The jumbos chosen for taking part in this year's Dasara festivities next month have arrived in the city. The journey of the first batch of elephants, comprising five from the elephant camp in Veeranahosahalli near Hunsur in Mysore District, and one from Kyathedevaragudi of Biligiri Ranga Hills in Chamarajanagar District began on Thursday. The five-strong batch of elephants comprising Balarama, chosen to carry the Ambari (golden howdah), Abhimanyu, assigned the task of drawing the decorated cart ...
2009-08-14 - Coonoor, India.
A five-year-old elephant calf was captured by forest officials in Coonoor in Tamil Nadu. The elephant had strayed towards a human habitation after separating from its herd. The officials tranquillized the elephant that had been creating problems for inhabitants of the tea estate in the town, and later released it in the Burliar forest area.
2009-08-11 - Chandrapur, India.
The case of a minor elephant giving birth to a stillborn calf couple of weeks ago at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) has shocked the forest authorities as well as the veterinary doctors. It is a unique case and probably the first in history of the species, when an elephant conceived at an age when she is still a calf.
2009-08-11 - Madurai, India.
Despite becoming part of a new herd, love and affection for their mother simply refuses to die, as two elephant calves, including a new born, have been visiting daily the place, where their mother was buried in a forest area in neighboring Virudhunagar district. The female elephant had given birth to a calf on August 5 in Shenbagathoppu forest area near Srivilliputhur, about 80 km from here, but died later following dehydration.
2009-08-04 - Bangalore, India. Bosky Khanna
It’s a boy! Before the feminists among you protest, there is reason for special cheer in this birth. On Saturday night, Suvarna (19) gave birth to Gajendra. This is the first time in the history of the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) that a male elephant calf has been born in captivity.
2009-08-03 - Berhampur, India.
A three-member team of wildlife experts was pressed into service on Monday to drive away the marauding elephants, who have been wreaking havoc in Kandhamal's Daringibadi block for the past two-and-half months. The team, including an expert ranger from the wildlife warden's office, have reached Baliguda. Besides, three squads, comprising around 30 personnel, were engaged in the job to drive away the elephants.
2009-08-03 - Bengaluru, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) welcomed its first male elephant to be born at the park. Suvarna, a 19-year-old cow elephant, delivered the calf taking the number of elephants in the park to 11. Vanaraj, a 40-year-old majestic tusker, who participated in the Dasara festivities last year, was the only male elephant here. But even he came from elsewhere. The park officials are jubilant as the elephant calf was adopted soon after its birth by a Dubai based businessman.
2009-04-26 - Shillong, India.
Meghalaya Forest Department today blamed the depletion of forest cover for the increasing man-elephant conflict in the state. At least 15 people have been killed by marauding pachyderms in the state in the last five years. " Despite efforts by the forest department, there has been no significant improvement in the constant depletion of forest cover due to the practice of Jhum cultivation in the Garo hills region of the state," Meghalaya Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) V K Nau...
2009-03-10 - Mysore, India.
MYSORE: The African female elephant Jambi, who was the cynosure of all eyes for more than three decades in the Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, died after a prolonged illness here on Monday. As the news spread, a sombre mood engulfed the zoo. The staff prayed for the departed soul before the body was laid to rest. The elephant was around 44 years and was suffering from arthritis for many years. Jambi was brought from West Germany in 1976. Six years ago, Jambi was attacked by a male elephant Tim...
2009-02-25 - Kaziranga, India.
Hardly a month after the elephant festival to counter the man-elephant conflict, a villager was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the outskirts of the Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Gopal Barua who trampled to death in his home at Hatikhuli village by the tusker which got separated from its herd and strayed out of the national park at Hatikhuli village. The forest department sources said the department is taking measures to drive the tusker back to the p...
2009-02-24 - Siliguri, India.
An injured makna (male elephant without tusks) roaming the forest of Apalchand near Malbazar has put the forest staff on alert. The 9.5ft tall elephant is around 30-35 years old and has been spotted in Compartment IV of the forest, 50km from here, with injuries on its left knee and shoulder. “We had informed the wildlife wing which sent us two trained elephants and two vets,” said Sailesh Anand, the divisional forest officer of Baikunthapur.
2009-02-22 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled to death two hikers who were part of a 10- member group returning from a trek to Agasthyarkoodam peak in the Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary in Nedumangadu taluk on Saturday evening. They were identified as Anuroop, 25 and Jayakumar, 27, of Neyyatinkara. S. Bijukumar, 30, who narrowly survived the attack, told reporters that the attack occurred in the forest midway between Thankayanvacha Kovil point and the Bonacaud Forest Picket station, almost 2 km. downhill.
2009-02-22 - Midnapore, India.
Farmers of Dantan in West Midnapore were livid after a herd of elephants entered the Tararoi gram panchayat area and ransacked a paddy field on Saturday morning. Also, forest officials were allegedly late in reaching the area despite being informed early in the morning. A herd of 70 elephants with eight calves entered near Singhda in Dantan and rampaged a huge paddy field, said a villager. "The herd damaged more than a few hundred bighas of boro paddy field at Singhda, Tarorai and Kusturia villa...
2009-02-13 - Kaziranga, India. Apem Kamadoang
Due to the increasing inflow of tourists at the Kaziranga National Park located in Assam, the state forest department has engaged private elephant owners for elephant safaris in the park. Because of increasing tourist arrivals, the park authorities are engaging private elephant owners to cater to the tourist rush. “At present, we are having around 52 departmental elephants at the Kaziranga National Park and about 19 elephants from private sector who are participating for the visitors.
2009-02-13 - Koorg, India. KALYANI CANDADE
He froze, trunk poised in mid-air, and looked straight at me. I turned around to see what had disturbed him. Nothing, except a mahout leaning lazily against the wall with a slight smile playing on his face. We were in Coorg, at the Elephant Interaction Centre of the Dubare Wildlife Sanctuary. I was fascinated at how much interaction was possible, with opportunities for even getting into the water and giving a massive hind quarter a good scrub! But the highlight for me was watching the feeding.
2009-02-13 - Kochi, India.
A four-year-old elephant died in Neryamangalam forest of Kerala's Idukki district after it chewed a fire cracker left by people living on the forest fringes to kill wild boars. The elephant, which was found on Tuesday with an infected mouth, died on Wednesday morning. Workers cutting bamboo inside the forest saw the elephant lying on the ground and informed forest guards. Conservator of forests (Kottayam high range circle), Bennychan Thomas, said the cause of the injury which led to its death wa...
2009-02-13 - Rishikesh, India. Raja Murthy
Raja, a 19-year-old elephant with grimy ivory tusks, sways morosely from side to side while standing chained under an asbestos-roofed shed in the Rajaji National Park, a last major refuge of the Asiatic elephant roaming the Himalayan foothills in eastern India. Raja has every reason to be disturbed. He was part of a family of six wild elephants struck in a train accident seven years ago on the rail track cutting through the wildlife reserve. Raja was the sole survivor. Forest officials rescued t...
2009-02-12 - Jalpaiguri , India.
Two elephants were found dead in a tiger reserve here, an official said today. The carcass of a tusker was found in a river in Rajabhatkhawa forest running through the Buxa Tiger Reserve (West), Field Director of the reserve, Ashok Prasad Singh said. The reason for its death has not been ascertained, he said while ruling out any involvement of poachers. An elephant cub was also found dead in the reserve. Its post-mortem report has revealed a heart ailment, the official said.
2009-02-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Every year a tragedy unfolds in Kerala -- a land of festivals. The festival season (February-April) has just started and two persons have already been trampled to death by temple elephants trained to participate in the festivities. A partially blind tusker ran amok at the Ernakulam Shiva temple last Friday, trampling a woman to death and injuring 15 others seriously. Two days later a mahout (trainer) was killed by another jumbo in Kunnamkulam near Thrissur.
2009-02-11 - Raipur, India.
Twenty-three persons have died due to elephant attacks in Chattisgarh during the current financial year till January 20, 2009, the assembly was informed on Wednesday. The forest minister Vikram Usendi today informed the assembly that the state government has given compensation of Rs 34,50,000 to the family members of the deceased. In his written reply to a question of Congress MLA Dharmajit Singh, Usendi informed the House that seven persons were injured and 775 houses were damaged by the eleph...
2009-02-10 - Mysore, India.
If it is an ordeal in wilderness for a tusker, it is a question of practicality for the wildlife division officials. For the past several days, a tusker injured in its legs and hips, is staying in the backwaters of Kabini reservoir. According to villagers, the pachyderm aged between 40 and 45 years is suffering silently. At times, it comes out of water to graze. The villagers feel the forest department officials of Nagarahole National Park and wildlife division have failed to come to the rescue ...
2009-02-10 - Bangalore, India. T G Prem Kumar
The Forest department has just concluded an operation to capture wild elephants in the Kodagu forests. With this, the department has succeeded in capturing three rogue elephants that wreaked havoc on crops in Dubare, Maldare, Avaregund, Karadigodu, Anekadu, Meenukolli, Attur and villages bordering the Jenukallubetta Reserve Forest limits.
2009-02-09 - Golaghat, India.
The seventh elephant festival would begins on Monday in Assam's Kaziranga National Park, a world heritage site and home to the highly endangered one-horned rhinos. Organised jointly by state Tourism and Forest department and Golaghat district administration, 50 elephants would be on display during the four-day event. The organisers said the highlight of the festival, to be attended by a host of foreign and domestic tourists, would be the "harmony procession" to focus on the topic of man-elephant...
2009-02-07 - New Delhi, India. Dhananjay Mahapatra
The National Highways Authority of India says it will build the world’s first flyover corridors for elephants over the highway and railway line that cut through Rajaji National Park to link major pilgrim towns of Hardwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Detailing the elevated elephant corridor project on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia, senior advocate Ramji Srinivasan said it would solve the technically insurmountable pr...
2009-02-06 - Kochi, India.
A woman was killed by an elephant at a temple here, triggering a stampede which left at least 19 others injured. The elephant caught hold of the woman by its trunk and flung her in the air. The others were injured in the subsequent stampede. Of the injured, the condition of three women is stated to be serious, police said. As part of the festivities in the temple, seven caparisoned elephants had been lined up at the temple grounds.
2009-02-06 - Zirakpur, India.
Visitors to the Chhatbir Zoological Park were in for a treat on Thursday. They got to see Rajbir, a male elephant born at the zoo about one and a half years ago, who was put on display for the first time. Rajbir, who was seen playing with his mother the whole day, became the centre of attraction for the visitors, especially the children. The zoo authorities had made special arrangements to capture Rajbir’s movements through video recording.
2009-02-02 - Alipurduar, India.
A wild elephant lifted up a five-year-old girl by the trunk, brought her outside the hut and for almost half-an-hour held the screaming child in between its fore legs as her father watched helplessly from a distance. The girl was unhurt, but there were no witnesses to narrate how the elephant let her go since Gobinda Das had, by then, fallen down unconscious. The father had been hit by a stone hurled at him by the elephant.
2009-01-29 - Surabaya, India.
A spate of recent deadly animal attacks in Indonesia has thrown the spotlight on growing conflicts between humans and animals triggered by the rapid dwindling of the country's forests
2009-01-25 - Ranchi, India.
Villagers poisoned a wild tusker to death in Khuti district of Jharkhand after it wreaked havoc on their standing crop and houses, said a forest official Sunday. “Primary investigations reveal that the wild elephant was poisoned Friday. We have taken the elephant’s body in our possession,” the forest department official told IANS. According to him, “the wild tusker had wreaked havoc in Torpa area of Khuti district.”
2009-01-25 - Mysore, India.
Vedavalli, a resident of Bangalore, has adopted two elephants of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens here under the adoption of animals scheme. The elephants, one male and another female, will benefit for a period of one year under the scheme. Known to be a lover of animals, Vedavalli adopted Aishwarya (8-year-old) and Madesha (1-year-old) in a simple function at the Zoo on Saturday in the presence of her family members.
2009-01-22 - New Delhi, India. Harish Bhat
Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, received a tiger cub as his birthday gift. Before you conclude that this is the wildest gift you've heard of, listen to my small story. My uncle, who lives in Kerala, once received an elephant as a gift. An elderly priest gifted it to him. It was a noble female elephant. My uncle named her Preethikutty and tethered her to a coconut palm in his backyard. There she rested a couple of days.
2009-01-22 - Jaipur, India.
Julia Roberts came holidaying to the picturesque Indian city of Jaipur with her husband and kids, went sightseeing and enjoyed elephant and camel cart rides. Roberts, who arrived in the city Tuesday afternoon, was staying at the luxury resort of Oberoi Rajvilas. She spent two days in the historic city.
2009-01-21 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. Vipul Goel
Jim Corbett National Park, Jan 21 (ANI): Elephants in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand have been installed with microchips, which will act as their identification proof. Installed with the help of a syringe, these chips will help the authorities identify the elephants from among the wild ones. The chips would provide a unique identification number to the elephants, which would enable the wildlife authorities at the park, to keep a track on these elephants through the means of a digital r...
2009-01-20 - COIMBATORE, India.
Jaunty jumbo rides in the zoos, yes, but what about a power lunch and a gallant walk with wild pachyderms in the forests? Tourists at the picturesque Top Slip in Anamalai range on Monday were treated to a rare jumbo party out in the jungles on Monday. Called the "elephant Pongal," the Forest department unveiled treated 200-odd tourists to an exciting saunter and snack session with the elephants. As many as 17 trained elephants, including six tuskers, from the Kozhikamudi camp near Top Slip were ...
2009-01-19 - Guwahati, India.
Non-release of funds by Dispur to the state forest department has hit elephant conservation work. Director of Project Elephant, A.N. Prasad today said non-utilisation of funds has become a major concern and the state government could well have lost over Rs 1 crore in the last three years. Prasad is in Guwahati to attend a national symposium on elephant healthcare and managerial practices.
2009-01-18 - Dhenkanal, India.
A six-month-old elephant calf died in Nathua village in Sadar block after it fell in a pit and its body was recovered by forest officials on Saturday. According to villagers, jumbos raided houses of two persons - Jadumani Dehury and R Dehury - on Friday. They destroyed their houses and plantations such as banana and papaya and damaged their property. ACF S P Bisoi said the elephant calf might have died due to damage in brain after it fell in the pit. Its body has been sent for post mortem
2009-01-18 - Berhampur, India.
The forest officials chased away the elephant, which was guarding the carcass of another elephant for over 48 hours, to the forest with the help of locals. For the past few days, a herd comprising over 12 elephants including a tusker was roaming in Digapahandi block. On Thursday night, the herd entered Bhramarapur and destroyed the paddy crop stored after harvest. The villagers guarding the crop ran for their life. Later, the villagers returned en masse and chased away the herd.
2009-01-17 - New Delhi, India.
For almost six decades Indian elephants in elaborate headdresses have been part of the annual Republic Day parade through Delhi. This year, however, the bejewelled elephants that traditionally carry the winners of children’s bravery awards will be absent from the parade for the first time since it began in 1950. Because of concerns about safety and animal rights the 20 children in the parade will now ride in military vehicles. The Defence Ministry said that it had taken the step partly because...
2009-01-16 - Mandrem, India.
The campaign launched in Pernem taluka by the Forest department officials and locals to drive away rampaging elephants coming from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka has met with success. Strict vigil is also being maintained to prevent the tuskers from entering villages of Hasapur, Phakirpatto, Ibrampur and neighbouring areas in the taluka.
2009-01-16 - Coimbatore, India.
The incidence of elephant attack on vehicles on the premier tourist path of Mettupalyam- Ooty National Highways is on the rise. Damages to the crops on the stretch by stray animals have also become common. On Wednesday, a herd of elephants stopped in the middle of the road on seeing a tourist car around 11 pm near Kallar railway gate on Mettupalayam- Ooty NH. The driver stopped the vehicle, a few feet away and waited. One of the elephants ran towards the vehicle and attacked the front glass and ...
2009-01-16 - Berhampur, India.
The amazing spectacle of a elephant guarding the body of another and not allowing any human being to approach the dead one drew awe from villagers and forest officials at Saura-Mukundpur area today. Forest officials failed to take possession of the body of the elephant electrocuted to death as another wild elephant stood guard. The electrocuted elephant was a female of around 25 years old and the one guarding the carcass happened to be a female of over 40 years. Generally females in wild elephan...
2009-01-16 - Mandrem, India. Nilkanth Pednekar
The campaign launched in Pernem taluka by the Forest department officials and locals to drive away rampaging elephants coming from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka has met with success. Strict vigil is also being maintained to prevent the tuskers from entering villages of Hasapur, Phakirpatto, Ibrampur and neighbouring areas in the taluka. A couple of days back, the Forest department drove away a rampaging tusker towards Kas-Madura in Maharashtra.
2009-01-16 - Guwahati, India.
Three people, including a five-year-old girl, were killed by a herd of wild elephants in Assam Friday, an official said. About five elephants entered Bhelapara village in Karbi Anglong district, about 260 km east of the state's main city Guwahati, and went on a rampage killing three people. "The elephants came from an adjoining hill in search of food and in the process trampled upon the three members of a tribal family,"the official said.
2009-01-13 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Finally, it was left to a goddess to speak up for the beleaguered elephant. Bhadra, the presiding deity of Kanichukulangara Devi Temple, when an ‘ashtamangalyaprasnam’ was conducted to know her mind, said henceforth her idol would be mounted, not on the back of a hapless elephant, but on the shoulders of men who had undergone fasting and penance for 40 days. Thus, at a time when temple festivals cannot do without elephants, the Kanichukulangara Temple in Alappuzha district has become the fir...
2009-01-12 - Panaji, India.
Posting of two elephants from Bondla zoo to help forest department staff patrolling Goa's border areas around Chandel and Hassapur has helped keep two pachyderms, which had destroyed crops in Mopa and Anconem, at bay for some time. "The tame elephants help better visibility as staff mounted on it can see far and wild ones are a little afraid of them," Shashi Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forest told TOI on Saturday. The elephants which had been straying into Goa at random have not been seen for a ...
2009-01-10 - Dindigul, India.
Forest department is planning to put up watch towers at four places to monitor the movement of elephants in Palani forest areas in the district. Officials said the watch towers would be installed near Summer Water spots as the elephants would come there in search of water. The locations selected were Palaru and Porundalaru dams, Vaiyanturai and Kudiraiyaru.
2008-12-16 - Dubare elephant camp, India. Jeevan Chinnappa
A five-day hunt to capture a wild elephant ended dramatically in the Maldare forest area in Kodagu on Tuesday with the capture of the animal by the Forest Department officials. This came as a relief to the people of Maldare. The operation to track and capture four elephants began with a puja here on December 10. The elephant caught on Tuesday is said to have killed five persons in and around Maldare recently. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) granted permission to capture four el...
2008-12-10 - Patna, India.
Though the capture, sale and purchase of elephants are banned in India, according to the media reports, they were still sold in the Sonepur Cattle Fair, which concluded recently. This is possible because those engaged in the business have devised a unique method to circumvent the law. Temples in the southern states buy pachyderms at the annual Sonepur cattle fair. But what is more significant is that their trade has much to do with the rise of Bahujan Samaj Party in neighbouring UP as elephant i...
2008-12-08 - New Delhi, India. Sankar Ray
India’s elephants, as much as tigers the country’s symbol, are dying in ever-greater numbers as industrialization, deforestation, the pressure of human settlement and shrinking food resources cut into their numbers. Although the world's concern has risen over the fate of India's tigers, the descending numbers of India's elephants have not caused alarm. They are not listed as endangered species. The Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests estimated the population of wild elephants at 26,4...
2008-12-08 - Guruvayoor, India.
In a moving spectacle, elephants of the Sree Krishna temple here paid floral tributes in memory of their legendary peer Guruvayoor Kesavan on the 32nd death anniversary of the majestic tusker, around whom are woven many a tale. In a solemn procession, 33 elephants marched through the temple town to the Sreevalsom compound close to the shrine, where they showered petals at the feet of Kesavan's statue.
2008-12-06 - Berhampur, India.
Three elephants, who fell into a well at Mahurapalli village in Ganjam district, were rescued on Saturday, official sources said here. The elephants had slipped into an open well located in a farm land last night when they came to the human habitation in search of food in Buguda forest range, B N Mohanty, Divisional Forest Officer (Ghumusar south) said. On being informed about the incident, forest personnel rushed to the spot this morning to pull out the pachyderms from the well.
2008-12-03 - New Delhi, India.
At least 10 tigers and 57 elephants have been poached in India during last three years, the environment and forests ministry said Wednesday but said the government was doing its best to protect wildlife. While poachers in Rajasthan killed four tigers, two tigers each in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kerala fell victims to wildlife criminals, according to a ministry report. Of the 57 jumbos killed, 22 were poached in Orissa alone. While eight elephants were killed each in Karnataka, Assam and Ke...
2008-12-01 - Dimapur, India.
Rogue elephants have killed another man in Wokha, this time in Yanmhon. One Belka Orang, an Adivasi, was killed on November 29, when elephants went on a spree destroying paddy fields, fishery ponds and plantations and even government and private houses in and around Yanmhon. A laborer, one Borli Orang was killed by an elephant on November 18 earlier. It is also reported that the Asian Oilfields Survey Service Limited is unable to carry out survey works for seismic activities in Yanmhon areas due...
2008-11-30 - Jamshedpur, India. KUMUD JENAMANI
For the first time, tuskers from Dalma have found the perfect shelter. Their new home has been built by the forest department on the same corridor that is frequently ravaged by them. For thousands of villagers in Ghatshila sub-division in East Singhbhum district, this harvest season has also been relatively incident-free as at least 12 elephants, including a calf, are huddled in Charchakka forest for the past fortnight. In a first-of-its-kind project in this part of the country, the Dhalbhum div...
2008-11-26 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Elephant menace has grown alarmingly in Jalpaiguri district this year and the forest department has clearly failed to contain the leviathans in the forests. It admits so too. Speaking on the subject, the chief conservator of forest, North Bengal Dr Sylvan Patel admitted the point and said that developing communication with the villagers is essential for handling elephant raids. “We have only four elephant squads at the Malbazaar, Ramsai, Khunia and Binnaguri ranges respectively under the Wild ...
2008-11-23 - Mysore, India.
Forty-two year old Belliyappa often spoke of sending his son to a big city college for higher education because he wanted his son to explore the world. But, too soon, his dreams were trampled by an elephant on Friday. Belliyappa, a small farmer in Napoklu in Kodagu district, was found dead near his farm here on Friday. He bore all the marks of having been crushed under the mighty feet of an elephant.
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...
2008-11-21 - Sonepur, India.
Elephant dung is selling like hot cake at the famous annual cattle fair here for use as a mosquito repellent and also as fuel. Over 70 elephants are at the fair this year. They are brought here for show, as their sale at the fair is banned under wildlife protection laws, said another forest department official, CP Khanduja. Elephants are big attractions at the fair, especially for tourists. But there are unofficial reports that elephants are bought and sold at the fair in the garb of gifting the...
2008-11-19 - Bangalore, India. Preethi Nagaraj
The rogue elephant 'Kyata' which crushed his mahout Bora to death recently, has been sent to kraal – a place where wild and restless elephants are tamed – in Moorkal, within Nagarhole forest range. The nine year old Kyata after killing his mahout, had stood guard of the body for nearly 12 hours without food and water. It was only after many attempts that Bora's body was lifted and cremated.
2008-11-18 - Bangalore, India. Vidya TN, Sukumar R, Melnick DJ., Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science
Recent phylogeographic studies of the endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) reveal two highly divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages, an elucidation of which is central to understanding the species's evolution. Previous explanations for the divergent clades include introgression of mtDNA haplotypes between ancestral species, allopatric divergence of the clades between Sri Lanka or the Sunda region and the mainland, historical trade of elephants, and retention of divergent lineages du...
2008-11-18 - Dehra Dun, India.
An elephant was found dead in the Jim Corbett National Park, taking the number of pachyderm deaths in the sanctuary this year to eight. The 40-year-old tuskless elephant died on Monday apparently after being attacked by a herd of tuskers in the park, forest officials said on Tuesday. The officials said deep wounds on its body and footprints of several elephants were found in the area. The pachyderm was buried after a post-mortem, they said.
2008-11-16 - Bangalore, India.
The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the state and Central governments to submit by December 9, 2008 a comprehensive report on the spate of elephant deaths in the Nagarahole-Bandipur belt, especially the alleged killing of four pachyderms in Nanjangud taluk of Chamarajanagar district on November 5 last. Hearing a suo motu public interest litigation, a division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakran and Justice V G Sabahit said: "It is most unfortunate and inhuman. We should be ash...
2008-11-14 - Bangalore, India.
Even as the government confirmed "cyanide poison in ragi balls" as a cause for the elephants' death, the Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the Forest Department to find out the culprits behind the episode in Kappasoge village near Nanjangud and submit a report before December 9. After registering a suo motu case on the elephants’ death, the division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice V G Sabhahit said “It is an inhumane act, we call them animals, we should be asha...
2008-11-12 - Raipur, India.
Elephants too are an election issue in the tribal state Chhattisgarh going to assembly poll later this month. With the jumbo menace affecting northern part of the state comprising of districts like Surguja, Koria, Jashpur, Korba and Raigarh, ruling BJP has in its election manifesto promised a new scheme for development of a corridor for movement of elephants so that they do not stray into human habitations.
2008-11-09 - Jaipur, India.
The increased influx of tourists may have given a chance to mint money to those from the tourism industry, but the elephants at Amber are having a tough time. One can witness utter chaos during the peak hours for elephant rides with tourists thronging the Amber Fort. Despite the fact that the tourism department has restricted the maximum load for elephants (two tourists per elephant) and just one ride for each animal per day, the 95 elephants at here are having a hard time as mahouts have been f...
2008-11-09 - Jalpaiguri , India.
A four-year-old child was tossed to death by a wild elephant at Mantagara in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday sparking protest by villagers who gheraoed forest officials. Forest officials said the baby girl was tossed to the ground by the tusker which strayed into the area and barged into the hut of a tribal family. While the girl's parents scampered to safety mistaking the girl to be away in a neighbour's house, the toddler fell before the jumbo. As a forest team went to the area, they were gherao...
2008-11-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa landed in a controversy for gifting a elephant to a temple in Kerala with animal rights activists alleging violation of wildlife rules including that the person donating a pachyderm should be declared "pauper" by law. Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden J K Tewari has asked the Divisional Forest officer in Kannur to look into the matter and submit a report following a complaint by animal rights campaigners,
2008-11-07 - Bangalore, India. Deepa Balakrishnan
The Karnataka High Court has ordered an inquiry into the increasing number of unnatural elephant deaths in Mysore. On Wednesday four elephants were badly wounded after getting electrocuted near the Kabini canal. Soon some villagers noticed that all the four were dead and the carcasses were floating in the canal. "We come by this canal everyday and suddenly saw these carcasses floating in the canal. We called the police to see what can be done," a villager Siddaraju said.
2008-11-05 - Mysore, India.
Nine elephants in seven days. This is the tragic tally of poor jumbos which have met their gory end owing to the "shocking" means the villagers adopt to keep the creature at bay in Mysore district alone. What led to the 'massacre' of elephants is the electrified fencing with which the farmers protect their fields. While the government has made it mandatory to use only solar powered barbed wires, farmers often tap electricity illegally and allow high voltage to pass through the wires.
2008-10-31 - Calcutta, India. CHANDAN SARMAH
It has been 30 years since Tapan Sinha gave us Safed Hathi — the heartwarming tale of two orphaned children and their protector, a white elephant. Thirty years and the dynamics between this large animal and rural India have changed enough to prompt an Assamese filmmaker to name his documentary on elephant movement A Friend Turned Foe. Selected for the non-feature section of the Indian Panorama for the forthcoming International Film Festival of India, 2008, A Friend Turned Foe, by Gautam Saikia...
2008-10-26 - New Delhi, India. Neha Sinha
In a first-of-its-kind move, Project Elephant has released funds for setting up rescue and rehabilitation centres across the country to accommodate ill or ageing working elephants. There are an estimated 3,500-3,600 privately-owned captive elephants in the country and most of them are made to work. Approximately Rs 90 lakh has been released for a 400-acre elephant rescue centre to be run in Haryana, officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forests said. Funds have also been released for el...
2008-10-25 - Guwahati, India.
Noted wildlife filmmaker Gautam Saikia’s documentary A Friend turned Foe has been selected for the 39th Indian Panorama scheduled to be held in Goa from November 23. The 15-minute documentary that highlights the intensifying man-elephant conflict in Assam has been chosen for the non-feature category of the Panorama. “The documentary depicts the worsening man-elephant conflict, and has primarily been shot in Golaghat district, which is one of the worst-affected areas of the conflict,” Saiki...
2008-10-23 - Chennai, India.
An elephant owned by actor Jayaram recently received the coveted Gajarajapattam award in Kerala. The elephant, known as Thiruvanikkavu Kannan, is no ordinary elephant. He is very soft-natured and is like a member of my family,” says a proud Jayaram. An ardent elephant lover, Jayaram says that he has been crazy about elephants since his childhood and recalls that he used to go to all temple festivals just to have a glimpse of the gorgeous creatures. Jayaram bought Kannan when his son Kalidas wa...
2008-10-20 - Rourkela, India.
The recent death of an elephant due to electrocution near Sanchebahal jungle some 10 kilometres away from Bamra also displayed a rare glimpse of the solidarity by pachyderms. The elephant which was electrocuted when its trunk touched a high tension wire hanging about 7 feet above the ground was surrounded by a herd of elephants soon after its death. Even though forest officials rushed to the spot upon getting information about the elephant’s death they were surprised to see as many as 18 eleph...
2008-10-19 - Thrissur, India.
Another festival season is coming up in Kerala and elephants are definitely a part of the show. But this time, the state government hopes to bring in more stringent rules to bring down the instances of elephants going berserk and attacking humans. The government realises that it’s not just the noise and heat which makes the elephants go crazy, but also the ill-treatment of elephants by mahouts. Several reports have shown gory pictures of violent abuse of the giants, therefore this year th...
2008-10-19 - Tiruchi, India. R. Rajaram
The Central Zoo Authority has approved a detailed layout of the zoological park to be established by the State Forest Department inside the sprawling Reserve Forest at M.R. Palayam, near here. The officials said animals including deer, sloth bear, Indian gaur, elephant, wild dog, hyena and hippopotamus besides peacock, monkey, salt and fresh water crocodiles, swamp birds and different types of snakes, would be housed in the zoo. The zoo will spread over 300 acres inside the M.R. Palayam reserve ...
2008-10-18 - Ranchi, India.
He will no longer stop people in their tracks, rummage trucks or invade roadside stalls for food. RTO, the friendly tusker who would roam the forests of West Singhbhum and often venture out into human habitation for food in Noamundi, was found dead deep inside the forest late on Wednesday night. Even though foresters said the elephant had died a natural death, a post-mortem has been done and the animal's viscera preserved for a forensic test.
2008-10-17 - Guwahati, India.
An adult, partially blind elephant was critically injured when it got hit by a goods train near Deepor Beel last night. The female elephant was crossing the track around 9pm when the train, travelling from Azara to Guwahati, hurtled towards it. It hit the elephant at Chakradeo in Deepor Beel, an international wetland. “The elephant, aged between 35 and 40 years, was standing on the track when the train hit her,†a forest official said. Though the train blew its whistle, the elephant ...
2008-10-11 - Mysore, India.
The 13 Dasara elephants were accorded a traditional farewell at a function organized at the Mysore palace premises here today October 11, 2008. Deputy Commissioner P Manivannan offered puja to all the 13 pachyderms which were fed jaggery, sugarcane and banana. The elephants still bore the colorful designs on their trunks boarded the trucks to begin their journey back to the jungles. Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wild Life) Yatish speaking on the occasion said that Balarama who has been carrying...
2008-10-06 - Jaigaon, India.
Their tin hut surrounded by marauding elephants on three sides, a 65-year-old woman dug a tunnel with the help of her two grandsons to escape through the rear this morning. Around 2am, Maneshwari Burman was awakened by trumpeting in her kitchen, a few yards from where she slept with Pradip, 14, and Arjun, 10. “We knew that to talk would be to die and so looked at each other. Along with us was Bindu, a neighbour who had come to sleep at my home last night,†said Maneshwari. The family...
2008-10-05 - Bangalore, India.
After a long and tedious hunt, Venkat, one of Karnataka’s ‘most wanted’ poachers, was arrested on Saturday morning while selling tiger nai ls at Taraka village near Nagarahole National Park. According to Sunil Panwar, assistant conservator of forests of Nagarahole National Park, Venkat was involved in various poaching and smuggling activities including ivory theft cases.
2008-10-05 - Alipurduar, India.
An elephant’s violent death on tracks yesterday has proved the railways are not following the speed rules they are supposed to, the state’s chief wildlife warden said today. “We had discussed the problem at a seminar in Calcutta last month in the presence of Project Elephant representatives. But yesterday’s incident proves the railways are not abiding by the speed rules. I will inform Project Elephant about the incident,†said S.S. Bist. A.P. Singh, deputy field ...
2008-10-05 - Siliguri, India.
An elephant was killed by a goods train near Rajabhat Khawo area of the Bauxa Tiger Reserve Forest of Cooch Bihar District of West-Bengal on early Sunday morning. According to the forest officials, while crossing the railway track, the elephant collided with the speeding train. The animal was crossing the forest from 21, basti area of the forestland to the other part of the forest. It died soon after colliding with the train. As a result of the accident, two coaches of the train were also derail...
2008-10-03 - Mysore, India.
The cynosure of all eyes, the Naada Habba (State Festival) or People's Dasara festival is incomplete without the presence of 12 elephants. And what is more, each one of the elephants has a characteristic feature that is remarkable and evokes admiration. Twelve elephants come to Mysore annually from the Jungle Camps to acclimatise themselves to the ambience of the concrete jungle and lend sheen to the Dasara festivities. Their presence in the famous Mysore Palace premises would be another attract...
2008-09-30 - Udhagamandalam, India.
A 52-year old man was trampled to death by a herd of elephants, including one calf, at Manjakombai near Coonoor in Nilgiris district. According to forest department sources, four persons, who were returning home after their work last night, were chased by a group of five wild elephants. Though three of them managed to escape, one Selvaraj was trampled by the elephants to death, they said. Meanwhile, the same herd of elephants waylaid a van at the nearby Thalakombai this morning. As the four occu...
2008-09-30 - Raipur, India.
About 850 residents of a Chhattisgarh village have not slept for the past one week as a group of 14 wild tuskers, having a record of killing people, have settled in the village and destroyed standing paddy crops. ‘About 850 persons of Raigarh districts Bhaisgarhi village have been spending sleepless nights since last Tuesday Sep 23 as a group of 14 wild elephants are roaming in the area,’ officials at the forest department here told IANS. They said the tuskers have sneaked into the ...
2008-09-27 - Bangalore , India. Nirmala Ravindran
In a study that revealed alarming statistics, it has been discovered that one in four temple elephants in south India suffered from tuberculosis. The study was spread across the four southern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and covered 387 captive elephants and looked at over 45 parameters. The recently-concluded study was led by principal investigator Jacob Cheeran, an expert on elephant studies and commissioned by Asian Nature and Conservation Foundation. It is understood that lack ...
2008-09-25 - Guwahati, India.
The carcass of a male elephant calf was found floating in a water tank inside Narengi army cantonment here this morning. The calf, aged between two and two-and-a-half years, seems to have been part of a herd which strayed into the army cantonment from the adjoining Amchang wildlife sanctuary last night. “Army personnel and residents around the cantonment told us that they had seen a herd of about 14 elephants moving in the area for the past two days,†a police officer said.
2008-09-24 - Dudhwa, India. Kamna Mathur
Not many may know that Dudhwa National Park holds a unique position for according pension and other emoluments to its elephants for rendering service to tourists and patrolling. These elephants belong to the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department at the Dudhwa National Park located in Lakhimpuri Kheri region of the State. And, after retirement from their official duties, these jumbos avail free medical treatment, pension and an attendant.
2008-09-22 - THRISSUR, India.
A Programme to give practical training to mahouts and issue licence to the trained mahouts is under the consideration of the Kerala Elephant owners Federation, said Federation president K B Ganeshkumar, MLA. Filmstar Jayaram inaugurated the meet which commenced with a gajapooja. At the function, the Gajamithra Puraskaram and Nitish Memorial Endowment of Rs 5,001 was presented to Guruvayur Devaswom mahout P Radhakr i shnan. the ‘Palakapya puraskaram’ instituted by the Federation for ...
2008-09-20 - RANCHI, India.
Two people were trampled to death and one was injured as elephants entered a village in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district on Friday and went on the rampage, attacking people and damaging property, police said. A herd of elephants entered villages that come under the Kuju police station of Ramgargh, around 70 km from here, in the morning. They then went on the rampage in Ratwe village and trampled Khirodhar Mahto and Gulab Mahto to death. The elephants also wounded another villager, a police official ...
2008-09-12 - Mysore, India.
Dasara elephants housed in the premises of Palace are being given royal treatment. On the other hand, Palace elephants which are supposed to get similar treatment, are suffering. There are seven elephants under the charge of Palace Administration. Out of them, five are suffering from one disease or the other. The personnel who are supposed to take care of their health, are showing negligence. Elephant Raji has developed big tumours near both the eyes. Jamini has a tumour with infection on the ri...
2008-09-11 - Havelock islands, India. PATANJALI V. PARIMI
Rajan is unique. He flies in the waters of the Bay of Bengal with the ease of a pelican in the air. He may be a majestic giant on land, but in the water he seems to transform into a weightless creature specially designed to fly in the sea. If you ever imagined flying with an elephant in a surreal world, you sure can realise your dream with the help of a male tusker called Rajan in the Andaman Islands. For a country that has an estimated 25,000 wild elephants and 3,500 domesticated elephants, the...
2008-09-10 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The first exhaustive study of captive elephants in southern India has found that 15.25 per cent of them suffer from tuberculosis. Principal investigator of the two-year-long study Jacob Cheeran said that the study was done on 387 captive elephants in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; 59 of the elephants had TB. "The study on the health of captive elephants with special attention on TB was conducted by the Bangalore-based NGO Asian Nature and Conservation Foundati...
2008-09-09 - Mysore, India.
During the Dasara procession it is the ambari elephant that attracts a lot of attention. And, choosing the ambari elephant is no mean task. Shyam Sundar Vattam delves deep into historical records to trace the process of their selection. The world famous Mysore Dasara is synonymous with elephants. Dasara procession without elephants is unthinkable. It is, therefore, no wonder that these gentle giants which are brought from the neighbouring national parks for Dasara enjoy a protocol which is norma...
2008-09-08 - New Delhi, India. Pressrelease, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Carving of ivory is a traditional cottage industry in South India. the spurt in prices of ivory has been mainly responsible for killing of elephants in India. It is alleged that poachers do not hesitate to shoot even young elephants down to 5 years of age, which carry tusks of about 2.5 kg. a piece only. This type of systematic and sustained poaching of tuskers appeared to affect even the genetic potential and sex ration of the species.
2008-09-05 - Corbett Tiger Reserve, India.
The environment ministry has sought a report from the Uttarakhand government on increasing cases of elephant mortality at the famous Corbett Tiger Reserve in recent months. "There have been reports of higher cases of jumbo mortality from the region in the last few months when compared to the last few years. It is definitely a matter of concern though it would be too early to comment whether it is due to the negligence of the park's staff or due to some other reasons," A N Prasad, director of Pro...
2008-09-01 - Mysore, India.
Elephants play a major role in Dasara procession. The six elephants which are camping for the past few days in the premises of Mysore Palace are being taken for walking daily in the morning and evening in the path of 'Jumboo Savari' to enable them to get acquainted with the route. The elephants Balarama, Arjuna, Gajendra, Abhimanyu, Sarala, Vijaya in the first batch started their exercise a few days ago to get acquainted with the city environment, people and vehicular traffic. Balarama has been ...
2008-09-01 - Chennai, India.
Forests minister N Selvaraj said on Sunday that the first installment of Rs 125 crore of a total of the Rs 256 crore was released for setting up night safaris in Vandalur zoo. The state government also plans to set up a zoo in Tiruchi, he added. At the Vandalur zoo, 60 deer can be seen during the safari, while for the jumbo rides, the services of two elephants from Pollachi will be used to thrill visitors. The jumbo rides would be offered between 9.30 am and 11.30 am, and 4 pm to 5.30 pm, except...
2008-08-28 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Ashraf Padanna
Kerala’s old captive elephants can now retire and spend their twilight years in dignity at their new home outside the state capital here. The Elephant Rehabilitation Centre, India’s first old-age home for the pachyderm, was opened yesterday at the serene Agasthyavanam Biological Park, a major attraction for the eco-tourists in Kerala. We’ll convert this into a pilgrimage centre for animal lovers all over the world,†Forest Minister Binoy Vishwam said as he opened the c...
2008-08-27 - Jamshedpur, India. ANKUSH SINGH
Numbers suggest the tuskers are fast disappearing. The conflict between man and animal has taken a toll on the elephant population at the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, around 10km from the city. According to the census report of 2008, the elephant count stands at 80, 16 less than the last census prepared in 2003. Officials said in villages of Jharkhand and Bengal, elephants mostly die due to conflict with humans. They explained that two elephants were electrocuted by an overhead wire near the Dimna ...
2008-08-26 - Bankura, India.
A herd of 60 elephants entered Bankura district last night. According to senior forest officials, on Tuesday morning the herd was sighted at the Bankadaha range in the jungles under the Panchet Soil Conservation division in Bishnupur. The herd, comprising four tuskers, is the first herd to enter Bankura this monsoon. At Asthasole, the herd entered agricultural land and destroyed a significant amount of standing crop. The forest division, however, doesn’t have any plan to drive the elephants ou...
2008-08-26 - Sulthan Bathery, India.
An elephant patrol will roam the deep forests of Kerala in a bid to check poaching. The anti-poaching patrol in Wayanad district consists of three elephants, mahouts and forest officials.‘We started the patrol Monday. The team has around 15 members. We arranged this patrol following information from Tamil Nadu authorities that poachers could become active along Kerala-Tamil Nadu border this season,’ K. Radhakrishna Lal, assistant wildlife warden at Muthanga in Wayanad, told IANS.
2008-08-26 - Idukki, India.
A mahout died on Sunday after he fell with his elephant from a moving truck near Kerala’s Idukki. Maitheen, 64, was crushed under the weight of the pachyderm.
2008-08-23 - Goa, India. PANKAJ SEKHSARIA
Wild elephant migration from Karnataka to Goa and Maharashtra is termed ‘unnatural’ and Goa seeks Maharashtra’s help to drive the animals back. When Goa starts the operation it finds that its efforts to drive back the elephants have been hampered by trenches dug on the Maharashtra side to prevent the animals from entering that state. Goan authorities are asking Project Elephant authorities to intervene and ask Maharashtra to behave. Elephants that had ‘strayed’ from Orissa into Andhra ...
2008-08-22 - AGARTALA, India.
Border Security Force (BSF) troopers gunned down a Bangladeshi national in Tripura and captured two elephants he and his associates were allegedly trying to smuggle into India, officials said on Friday. The incident occurred in Kailashahar in north Tripura, some 175 km from the state capital Agartala. The BSF troopers shot dead a Bangladeshi national who was trying to smuggle elephants into India. His two companions managed to escape.
2008-08-18 - Thrissur, India.
Indian elephants are now walking a fashion ramp with a difference, providing their footprints to be printed on textile carry bags of New York-based fashion designer Barbara Gerard, who is here getting her models to perform. Gerard is at this cultural capital of Kerala to also introduce a new concept for children called "Elephant House". She said her concept was an innovative exploration of the Asian elephant involving the six senses as seen through the lens of video, film, painting, photography,...
2008-08-18 - Hunsur, India.
Preparations for this year's Dasara festivities were set into motion today when District in-charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje flagged off the journey of elephants (Gajapayana) towards Mysore. The Minister inaugurated the journey of the first batch of the caparisoned elephants at Veera-nahosahalli gate in Nagarahole forests, about 28 kms from here in the morning. She lit the traditional lamp at the gate and broke a ash gourd. The journey began as the Minister showered flower petals on the elephan...
2008-08-18 - Udhagamandalam, India. D. Radhakrishnan
The kumki (working) elephants of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve near here which have over the decades played a significant role in spreading the name of the sanctuary far and wide have of late been entrusted with the additional responsibility of keeping poachers at bay. Long considered the pride of Mudumalai, the kumkis have now become an integral part of the anti-poaching operations. Pointing out that for the past few weeks the kumkis have been a source of strength to the anti-poaching staff, the ...
2008-08-17 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of elephants participating in the Dasara procession will begin their journey (Gaja payana) towards the city from tomorrow. The District In-charge Minister Shobha Karandlaje will flag off the journey at Veeranahosahalli in Nagarahole forests at 9.30 am tomorrow with a special puja. The first batch of six elephants including Balaram, which has successfully carried the 'Golden Howdah' (Ambari) eight times in a row, will be heading towards the city. The batch includes Balarama, Bhara...
2008-08-13 - Dehradun, India.
In A unique move, the authorities at Rajaji National Park have undertaken a project to build an overpass above a stretch of railway tracks and a motorable road for the movement of elephants. Once completed, this 1.5-km stretch between Motichur railway crossing to Raiwala in Haridwar district will be the first overpass of its kind in the world. It is being constructed at the directions of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court, in order to protect the corridor through which el...
2008-08-11 - Mysore, India. Muralidhara Khajane
As the countdown for “Gajapayana”, scheduled to be held on August 18, has began, the tribal people living in the Nagarahole forest and mahouts and kavadis (helpers) of caparisoned elephants have threatened to boycott the Dasara festivities if the State Government “fails” to concede their long-pending demands. This has put the authorities in a piquant situation. “Gajapayana” is the ceremonial event in which the elephants participating in the “Jamboo Savari” march to Mysore Palace ...
2008-08-10 - Chhattisgarh, India.
Chhattisgarh Sunday issued an advisory to forested people, mainly of Jashpur district facing repeated attacks by wild tuskers, to stay indoors at night. The forest department has advised Jashpur residents to remain in their houses after sunset till sunrise as a herd of rogue elephants is roaming in nearby araes. 'If it is urgent to come out of houses between sunset and sunrise, then do only in a group and not alone, and also with sufficient light arrangements, to avoid elephants deadly attacks,'...
2008-08-10 - Thrissur, India. N V Davies
It is height of cruelty. It is alarming. And it is simply beyond belief. But it is a naked truth. Nearly 15 percent of the domesticated tuskers carrying Gods and Goddesses and entertaining public in festivals and celebrations in this God’s Own Country is partially or totally blind. Believe it or not, majority of these animals lost their eye-sight due to beating by their mahouts. Paradoxically, in this group of blind tuskers are some of the elegant ones most sought after by the organisers of fe...
2008-08-10 - Raipur, India.
Chhattisgarh Sunday issued an advisory to forested people, mainly of Jashpur district facing repeated attacks by wild tuskers, to stay indoors at night. The forest department has advised Jashpur residents to remain in their houses after sunset till sunrise as a herd of rogue elephants is roaming in nearby araes. ‘If it is urgent to come out of houses between sunset and sunrise, then do only in a group and not alone, and also with sufficient light arrangements, to avoid elephants deadly attacks...
2008-08-09 - Thrissur, India.
US-based Grande Gesture director Barbara Gerard is in love with elephants. Talking to this website's newspaper, Barbara, who is engaged in a project on conservation of the Asian Elephants, said, "When I look at an elephant a lot of compassion is visible in its eyes and this is never told to our children.”It is important therefore to introduce the children to the gentle side of the elephant, she added. In an attempt to do this, she invented the idea of ‘Elephant House’, which is portable.
2008-08-03 - Raipur, India.
A seven-year-old girl was trampled to death by a wild tusker in a forested stretch in Chhattisgarh, taking to eight the number of people killed by rogue elephants since June. Villagers have held demonstrations to demand that the wild elephants be hunted down. The latest casualty was reported late Saturday in Korba districts Karatala block when the girl along with her parents was gathering wood in the jungle. She was killed by a tusker.
2008-08-01 - Bangalore, India. Kamala Balachandran, Deccan Herald
It is said that in his lifetime Veerappan killed hundreds of elephants and made enormous profit from the tusks. So now that he is gone, are the elephants in the Nilgiris Mountains safe? No, because, in the place of Veerappan there are perhaps, many more, equally audacious, poachers on the prowl. And if there is one thing that anyone can say for sure, it is that there will never be a day when we can say that the last of the poachers is dead. That is because there will never be a day when people w...
2008-07-31 - Mangalore, India.
Pilikula Nisargadhama, located at Vamanjoor in the outskirts of the city, will be getting two elephants soon. This initiative has been taken to attract more tourists to Pilikula. Rajendra and Kapile, who are at Sakrebail elephant camp which is located in Shimoga district, will be brought here soon. Earlier, Rajendra was staying in the premises of Kollur temple. But his mischievous activities proved to be a headache for the temple management there. Later he was sent to Sakrebail camp. Rajendra di...
2008-07-31 - Hatipota, India.
In the Hatipota forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal, a female elephant was killed by a tusker on Monday. It occurred when a fight took place among some male elephants and in the meanwhile, a tusker gored a female elephant to death. IN A RARE attack of passion, a female elephant was killed by a tusker on Monday night (July 28) in the Hatipota forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal. Two male elephants from the herd of wild elephants seen in the neighbourhood had been pursuing the fe...
2008-07-31 - North Bengal, India.
For the fourth time in a week a man was trampled to death by an elephant near the Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal.65-year-old Edward Lakra was returning home late on Sunday night (July 28). As he walked alone through the forest adjoining Kartick Tea Estate he was attacked and killed. Over the last eight days, three other tea workers have been killed in three separate incidents. On July 24, Bhab Younus Toppo (45) of Rydak Tea Estate, on July 23, Rabin Sangma (28) of Garam Basti and on July 21,...
2008-07-30 - Mumbai, India.
The state government has mooted a plan to put up a fence with electric current at the Maharashtra, Goa-Karnataka border to overcome the increasing menace of elephants in the state. At a meeting held in Mantralaya on Tuesday, revenue minister Narayan Rane suggested a fence that will work on solar energy to stop elephants from entering the Konkan region. The meeting was attended by the state finance minister Jayant Patil and forest minister Babanrao Pachpute as well as other officials from the for...
2008-07-29 - Raipur, India.
A rogue elephant that has killed eight people and caused widespread damage in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district is to be hunted - with tranquiliser gun - the state government announced after affected villagers started a road blockade. "We are forced to order that the rogue elephant be hunted as it has killed eight people and caused widespread damage to property in the past one year," O.P. Yadav, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Jashpur, said on Tuesday.
2008-07-29 - Trivandrum, India. T. K. Devasia
After the gruelling festival season, its time for complete rest, feasts and rejuvenation for captive elephants in Kerala. Elephant owners, especially temples, have begun the annual sukhachikitsa (ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy) for their elephants that were paraded from temple to temple from March without rest. The sukhachikitsa for elephants attached to temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) commenced in the state capital Trivandrum yesterday. Forty elephants under various temples in...
2008-07-26 - Kerala, India.
elephants are now walking a fashion ramp with a difference, providing their footprints to be printed on textile carry bags of New York-based fashion designer Barbara Gerard, who is here getting her models to perform. Gerard is at this cultural capital of Kerala to also introduce a new concept for children called “Elephant House”. She said her concept was an innovative exploration of the Asian elephant involving the six senses as seen through the lens of video, film, painting, photography, mu...
2008-07-25 - New Delhi, India. Anand Sankar
It is a lonely and forlorn trudge for Bhola, Gangaram, Gulabu and their comrades —Delhi’s captive elephants — as they daily haul themselves from under the ITO Bridge at dawn, on the banks of the Yamuna cesspool. They plod through a city that does not bat an eyelid for them, to carry a groom at his wedding, or offer joyrides to tourists at a star hotel, all for Rs 2,000. Their day begins before the bedlam of the city’s roads and ends well after it, thanks to the traffic police. And the ma...
2008-07-25 - RANCHI, India.
The Jharkhand forest department will constitute mobile squads to chase away wild elephants who create havoc in villages around the forests in the state, said an official on Thursday. "As per plan, we will constitute 15 mobile squads equipped with weapons and cell phones to chase the elephant herds," a forest official said. Each squad, expected to be constituted by the year end, is likely to have 10 to 15 members including villagers and forest officials. The squads are likely to start functioning...
2008-07-24 - Guwahati, India. Kumar Sarkar
Pachyderms in North Bengal are increasingly under threat with some being poisoned to death, others shot by troops of the Nepalese Army while others are being run over by trains passing forest areas. It is time the Ministry of Environment sat up..
2008-07-23 - Ranchi, India. ANEETA SHARMA
The forest department has proposed a Rs 77.62 crore scheme to the Centre to tackle recurring man-tusker conflicts in Jharkhand. The chief wildlife warden of the state, A.K. Singh, said the forest department has proposed forming 15 well-equipped mobile squads to maintain vigil on elephants and chase away wild pachyderms when they come near human habitations. The mobile squads would have cellphones to talk to co-ordinators in the villages concerned and keep them abreast of pachyderms’ movement.
2008-06-23 - Siliguri, India.
Yet another Indian wild elephant was killed in Nepal. This time, it's a 40-year old female pachyderm that has succumbed to bullet injuries allegedly inflicted by the Nepal police in the eastern district of Jhapa adjacent to the Siliguri sub-division. According to Ms Sumita Ghatak, the divisional forest officer, Mahananda Wildlife Division - I in Siliguri, a herd of nearly 80 Indian elephants had strayed into Nepal from the Kalabari forests near Naxalbari in Siliguri last night but were brought b...
2008-06-23 - Ghatshila, India.
Tribals in Jharkhand have started living on tree tops to escape from the increasing menace of elephants ravaging their houses. They said that the elephants have been plundering their poorly built thatched houses as they could not afford concrete structures. The tribals said that elephants have in recent months destroyed dozens of houses and trampled many people to death. We don't have houses and these elephants trouble us a lot. So, we have built our houses on tree tops, said Sundari Sabat, a tr...
2008-06-22 - Chaibasa, India.
No truck driver plying on the Haatgamria-Baraiburu road in Jharkhand can escape without giving him his due. He is no toll collector, but a tusker, who has got separated from a herd. He stands for hours each day on the road waiting for food-laden trucks to give him his daily quota of food. “We don’t mind giving him a bunch of fruits, rice or other eatables. This is his toll,” says a trucker plying on the route. Fondly called ‘Ramu Haathi,’ he is not always friendly. If he cannot spot a ...
2008-06-21 - New Delhi, India. Christian Cotroneo
As India reshapes its landscape on the way to becoming an industrial and urban giant, conservationists are warning of an increase in deadly clashes between humans and elephants. While the government claims the elephant population has enjoyed a modest increase in recent years, development is robbing the herds of their natural habitat. "I think that human-animal conflict, generally, is going to be the biggest challenge of the next 10 years," said Belinda Wright, the founder the Wildlife Protection...
2008-06-21 - Nagaon, India.
Two elephants, a mother and its calf, died after they fell into a pond in the foothills of Kondoli, 35km from Nagaon, last night. The incident took place when the pair was proceeding towards the hill in a herd comprising 40-45 animals. The calf was the first to fall into the pond as soon as they had crossed Titajuri Basti. The mother jumped into the pond to rescue the calf. The villagers moved the Kothiatoli forest range office this morning to inform the authorities about the herd of elephants,...
2008-06-19 - Rajaji, India.
Recommendations of a Wildlife Trust of India-International Fund for Animal Welfare study done in 2001 have ensured zero elephant deaths in train accidents on a railway track that crosses the forests of the Rajaji National Park in the northern Indian Uttarakhand state. The railway line, which joins the holy city of Haridwar on the foothills of the Himalayas to the busy capital of the Uttarakhand state, Dehradun, had seen 20 elephant deaths, including those of tuskers and pregnant females, between...
2008-06-19 - Ahmedabad, India.
The Ahmedabd Municipal Corporation (AMC) has already begun frantic search for land for the new zoo in the city, to be spread over 100 acres. At present, the areas — near the Science City in Sola, Pirana and Hathijan — are high on the priority list. On the shopping list, apart from orangutans and pandas, are lions from Gir, the African elephant and the Himalayan Yak. “There is a proposal for a zoological park of international standards. We are looking for land which will be easily accessibl...
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 ...
2008-06-18 - Kanpur, India.
A female elephant from Assam is caught in an ownership battle between the administration of the famous Manki temple here and the forest department. While the temple claims Lakhi was presented to its head priest by a devotee, the forest department holds it is a government property. Faraway from the controversy, the elephant is enjoying its stay at Kanpur Zoo. Trouble began when someone registered a complaint against the temple administration that the tusker was not being looked after well and was...
2008-06-17 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Elephant owners, mahouts and veterinarians are getting together to frame guidelines for the management of captive elephants in Kerala to ensure the animals are not overworked and ill-treated. The Elephant Welfare Association of the state will hold a meeting June 29 in Thrissur, about 300 km from here, to draw up a set of rules for the owners and handlers of captive elephants.
2008-06-16 - Jaipur, India.
Elephants in Rajasthan are almost synonymous with the pomp and show associated with the regal times of yore. One would find them in weddings, ceremonial processions, trade shows and on just about every occasion that needs a flavour of the august times. But little thought is spared to them after they age beyond 60, their official retirement age fixed by the forest department. Most of these elephants live in conditions detrimental to their being or are abandoned by the owners who adopt indifferenc...
2008-06-12 - New Delhi, India. Rahul Bedi
India’s captive elephants will soon be able to live out their twilight years at a retirement home in the southern state of Kerala where there will be an abundance of good food, the company of other tuskers and professional veterinary care. When it opens, possibly in the next few months, the facility at Kottoor, 70km from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, will be the first in India to cater to ageing pachyderms. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility,” said VS Varghe...
2008-06-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
At least 250 people die on an average every year in the country's eastern states in the man-elephant conflict. "Conflict with wild-elephants claims 250 lives in the east every year," A N Prasad, Inspector-General of Forests and Director of Project Elephant told a workshop on 'Man-Elephant Interface for the Eastern Region" on Wednesday. The workshop was informed that Jharkhand reported the highest human casualty of 67 deaths in the region in 2006-07 while the death toll was 91 in 2005-06. Jharkha...
2008-06-05 - Jharkhand, India. Nityanand Shukla
Elephants are in danger in their natural habitat — Jharkhand. The death of three elephants in two separate places within a week is the latest example of the confrontation of mammoths with human beings. There was a time when elephants and human beings lived in harmony, but the goliaths started venturing into human habitats after the forests were encroached and their corridors were destroyed. The surge in Maoist activities also forced elephants to come out of jungles, as gunshots and explosive b...
2008-06-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
On the eve of World Environment Day, senior wildlife officials from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bengal today came together to work out an inter-state co-ordination strategy and to resolve the long standing issue of man-elephant conflict. Organised by the wildlife wing of the forest department, the workshop titled “Man-Elephant interface for the eastern regional states of India” aimed to focus on conflicts arising due to spatial and food-related problems.
2008-06-02 - Jamshedpur, India.
The carcass of two elephants, a mother elephant and its baby, which died due to electrocution, was found this morning in Kewar village of Jharkhand. According to reports as the baby elephant crossed the Dlama forest and entered the adjoining Kewar village, it got an electric shock from an exposed electric wire and died on the spot. The mother elephant in its effort to save its offspring got electrocuted in the same way and died soon after.
2008-05-31 - Patna, India.
An elephant named "Osama bin Laden" that has killed more than 11 people and injured dozens over the past few months was shot dead in Jharkhand, officials said on Saturday. The wild male elephant, had been terrorising villagers in two states, destroying their crops and homes. Forest officials and a police team tracked down the rogue jumbo in Jharkhand late on Friday, where it was shot dead, Ravi Ranjan, a senior government official said. "Yes, Osama has finally been killed and it took us 20 bulle...
2008-05-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom said that captive elephants without an embedded microchip will not be allowed to be paraded during festivals and other social gatherings from June 1. "We have already held discussions with the elephant owners and they have agreed. Revenue, Forest and Tourism Department officials also have been intimated," the Minister told reporters at a press conference here on Thursday to highlight the achievements of his ministry during the past two years. The new cut-off date on ...
2008-05-26 - Cooch Behar, India.
A pregnant elephant was found dead in a maize field near the National Highway in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal and it is suspected that she suffered a heart attack during labour. The carcass of the pachyderm was found by villagers in the area this morning following which senior forest officials including Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife north) L C Bahuguna rushed to the spot, officials said. They said a veterinary surgeon of the forest department Pralay Mandal and others examined the ...
2008-05-18 - Siliguri, India.
The decomposed body of an adult elephant was today found at Ponorogharia area near Oodlabari in the Dooars. The spot is in Lethi-I forest of Noam range in the Kalimpong forest division. According to the Kalimpong divisional forest manager, Mr Ompraksah, a forest patrolling party from the Noam range discovered the carcass of a female elephant early this morning. The eight feet long pachyderm was found lying on the track inside the Lethi forest and the body was partially decomposed.
2008-05-18 - Lucknow, India.
A former legislator of the Uttar Pradesh assembly was booked for illegally keeping two elephants in his farmhouse, forest department officials said on Sunday. Jitendra Jaiswal, who represented Gorakhpur assembly constituency, was served a show cause notice after he was found not having a license to keep elephants. The detection was made during a raid on his farmhouse.
2008-05-17 - Jamshedpur, India. SASWATI MUKHERJEE
Summer months bring with them an increase in the number of guests to Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, though the tourism department cannot claim credit for these visitors. During this season, a drastic increase in the number of elephants is witnessed. The number of elephants in the sanctuary now stands at 80, which would go down to 15 after summer. The figures are based on a rough census carried out during Sendra or Bishu Shikaar — traditional tribal hunting festival — on May 12.
2008-05-12 - CHANDRAPUR, India.
Two ageing elephants - Ranjeet and Vimla - who used to take the tourists of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) for a royal ride in the jungle - have been retired. In their place young and energetic Sushila (14 years) and Laxmi (7) have been recruited. Gajraj, another majestic elephant and a colleague of Ranjeet and Vimla, however, retains his post at TATR. Gajraj will lead Sushila and Laxmi in jungle safari. The elephant duo were retired on April 19, sources said. "Because of old age the effic...
2008-04-30 - Guwahati, India.
A 22-year-old female elephant recently dislocated its hip joint after falling 30 feet into a swampy pit in Assam's Karbi Anglong district. In agony for five days after being pulled out, it finally succumbed. In another incident, an elephant was hit by a train when it tried to save its calf stuck between the railway tracks. Not just elephants, a leopard was recently battered to death by residents of Sivasagar district in upper Assam. It had strayed into the town and attacked four people before be...
2008-04-29 - Malappuram, India.
A 10-month-old baby was crushed to death by a wild elephant that strayed into a tribal colony, Munderi, in Kerala early on Tuesday. The parents said the elephant rammed into their hut and crushed the baby while they managed to escape.
2008-04-28 - Kalpetta, India.
A suspected case of viral disease has resulted in the death of two wild elephants in the Wayanad district in Kerala in the last one month. The latest incident was reported from Chithalayam forest range in the district on Saturday. "A nine-month-old calf was found in the forest in a very weak condition Friday. The elephant herd was seen trying to help the calf stand upright. Though we tried to help the calf, the herd did not allow us to approach. The next day the calf died," forest range officer ...
2008-04-28 - IRINJALAKUDA, India.
Minister G Sudhakaran distributed the relief of Rs One lakh each announced by the Koodalmanikyam Temple to the next of kin of two victims who died in the attack of tusker Unnikrishnan in a function held here on Saturday. During the festival of Koodalmanikyam temple here, elephant Unnikrishnan ran amok and killed the mahout Noushad, 40, Kousalya, 75 and Nitheesh 30. The Minister distributed the amount of relief of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of Kousalya and Niteesh only. The relief to the...
2008-04-27 - Guwahati, India.
The injured elephant, which was stuck in a swampy pit at Daldoli in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district for five days, died a “natural death” in the wee hours today. The 22-year-old female elephant had fallen into the pit after being hit by a train while crossing tracks that run along the ridge overlooking the pit. A post-mortem conducted by experts from the state zoo and College of Veterinary Sciences found multiple injuries on the elephant’s backbone, resulting in paralysis.
2008-04-26 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Lack of proper care and management of captive elephants in India could lead to more violent incidents by berserk pachyderms that cause human casualties, experts said Saturday. “It is purely to wrong management of the elephants and the use of unskilled handlers that is leading to frequent incidents of tamed pachyderms going violent and causing fatalities,” Parbati Baruah, an internationally famous elephant tamer, told IANS.
2008-04-25 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Naveen Nair
Thiruvalla Unnikrishnan crushing a man to death at Koodalmanikam temple in Thrissur has shocked elephant lovers in Kerala. Perhaps, it's another grim reminder that human relations with these gentle giants have soured and it might not just get better very soon. “Traditionally elephants are an integral part of temple festivals. It not just the beauty that the elephant brings to festival, but rather its a matter of faith as the elephants represent Lord Ganesha,” Thiruvambadi Devaswom secretary ...
2008-04-23 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant rampaged through a Hindu temple in southern India on Wednesday, killing three people, including one of its handlers, police said. Television footage showed the adult male elephant charging through the temple compound. It knocked down a thatched awning, tried to batter its way through a steel gate and finally trampled a man, kicking the limp body several yards through the air. The elephant was being used during a ceremony for a regional festival in the southern Thrissur district when ...
2008-04-22 - Pune, India.
The Rajiv Gandhi zoological park at Katraj on Monday moved an application before judicial magistrate first class SJ Ansari urging her to direct the forest department, Pune, to take custody of an elephant on the grounds that the park is unable to maintain the animal due to paucity of funds. The forest department had impounded 'Poornima' after it was found begging on June 7, 2007 and prosecuted the mahout, Dineshkumar Satyanarayan Tiwari, after he failed to produce evidence that he owned the anima...
2008-04-19 - Chennai, India. D Madhavan
Visitors can get rides on elephants this summer at Vandalur zoo. The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, popularly known as Vandalur zoo, is planning to start elephant safari rides from May 1. Two elephants from Mudumalai sanctuary and two from Top Slip near Pollachi will be brought to the zoo by the end of the week. Staff at Vandalur zoo are setting up enclosures for the elephants and the route for the rides has been finalised, though the rates are yet to be fixed. Visitors will be able to spot birds...
2008-04-19 - Nashik, India. Anuradha Nagaraj
Elephant in custody, officials don’t know what to do with it after cops file case against owner for ‘poking and whipping’ it. In a grubby courtroom in Manmad, a major train junction around 90 km from Nashik, a pitched battle is being fought to protect the rights of an elephant. Lakshmi has been in custody since April 14 after the Manmad police registered a complaint against the owner, alleging that he had “whipped and poked” the elephant, troubling and abusing it during a BSP rally to...
2008-04-18 - Shillong, India.
It is a long wait for the families of victims of elephant attacks in Meghalaya. As if losing a loved one to an elephant attack is not enough, the families have to wait for years to get a meagre Rs 1 lakh from the government. Saleng Sangma, a Congress legislator from the elephant-infested Dalmagiri area of West Garo Hills, told the Assembly that it takes years to distribute compensation to the victims’ families though the state government claims that it takes only one year to complete the proce...
2008-04-17 - Guwahati, India.
The pulsating sound of the dhol and rhythmic beat of the taal will reverberate at Kaziranga National Park, which is celebrating the 6th Elephant Festival from tomorrow. The festival will kick off with a procession of about 50 elephants, which have arrived at Kaziranga from different parts of the state. There will also be a thorough health camp for the participating elephants. “The microchips, which had been implanted in elephants during the first festival in 2003, will be checked,” the offic...
2008-04-14 - Kochi, India.
Around 70 elephants will be readied for the festival, said K. Manoharan, president of the Paramekkavu temple committee. The committee puts up a gallery for foreign tourists to witness the festival, and 350-400 tourists are accommodated there annually. Care is taken to ensure that the elephants are given sufficient water and food and not made to stand under the scorching sun. Elephants have killed several people in the state last year, including during temple festivals that are mostly held during...
2008-04-13 - Chennai, India.
The southern state of Tamil Nadu holds two important heritage biospheres, although it is the most urban state in India. The man-elephant conflict seems to be reducing, with just 56 elephants dying in 2007 from a high of 81 in 2003. Three elephants were killed by poachers in 2003, 24 were electrocuted in the last five years, about eight have been run over by trains in this decade. In an exhaustive study on the man-wildlife conflict, as part of a book, Chief Conservator of Forests V.N. Singh and s...
2008-04-11 - Thrissur, India.
Need to halt an unruly elephant. Apply the 'brake'. Thats what a small town innovator here has come out a metallic 'brake' to halt unruly elephants which the mahout can apply sitting atop the jumbo to stop the animal from running amok. Bhaskaran, who designed the elephantine brake, claims that the device could rein in even the mightiest of tuskers but elephant experts are skeptical of its efficacy. The device consists of an iron lock to be put on the forelimbs of the animal with a cable linked t...
2008-04-10 - Thrissur, India.
Revenue Divisional Officer K N Ravindran on Wednesday issued an order banning the entry of tuskers with the signs of musth/violent nature to the town on April 15, 16 and 17, when Thrissur Pooram will be staged in the town. Documents concerning the elephants proposed to be paraded in the Pooram should be submitted to the DySP concerned in advance, the order said.
2008-04-09 - Pune, India. Chandan Haygunde
Poornima, the female elephant which was sent to Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Katraj by a local court last year, is ailing. The elephant has developed infection to its foot. And the fingers are being pointed at the zoo officials and the mahout who have allegedly failed to make the elephant walk for 10 kms everyday as stipulated by the court. The forest department had impounded Poornima from Koregaon Park in June 2007 after it was found to be used for begging by its mahout Mahendra Pande.
2008-04-09 - Chennai, India.
Elephants will have their way in Tamil Nadu — quite literally, with the government planning Elephant Corridors in different parts of the State to give them a safe transit route and prevent the pachyderm from straying into human habitat. Forest Minister N Selvaraj told the State Assembly in Chennai on Wednesday that 315 acres of land was being acquired for this purpose, the funds for which had been allotted last year.
2008-04-08 - Gudalur, India.
Herds of elephants straying into human settlements bordering thick forests have destroyed coffee plantations and water pipes here in Tamil Nadu. Gudalur, situated along the border with Karnataka some 650 km southwest of Chennai, is famous for its high value coffee beans, which are mostly exported. Expanding human habitations on both the sides of the border have displaced the animals from their habitation in the forests that are being developed into newer plantations virtually every day.
2008-04-05 - Kumbakonam, India.
The temple elephant of the Lord Muruga shrine at nearby Swamimalai today ran amok creating panic among devotees and officials. The elephant "Durga" broke its chain and started banging the iron gates of a marriage hall in the temple. It also attempted to attack the peacock cage. As the devotees fled the temple, authorities closed the main door. It also tried to attack mahouts, who finally managed to chain the animal. It was later administered sedatives by veterinarian Dr Rajyakodi, who attributed...
2008-04-05 - Jaipur, India. Harsha Kumari Singh
Jaipurs jumbos have been the city's star attraction for many years now. Tourists love a ride up to the city's historic Amer Fort atop an elephant. But little has been done over the years for their welfare. Animal activists say high rates of elephant insurance instead of being a boon to the elephants are a bane, which has meant that owners make old elephants work till they die and claim the insurance money. NGOs working for elephant welfare have long been lobbying for a retirement age for elephan...
2008-04-05 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. TAPAS CHAKRABORTY
The labour laws ignored them and no trade union came to their aid. Yet, five workers who toiled four shifts every day of the year, in rain and shine, are trumpeting a famous victory at the Jim Corbett National Park. The elephants on the park’s popular safari service have won a day’s holiday every week, complete with a sort of office party so they can de-stress themselves. “Every Monday, the five elephants will be taken off their duty of ferrying tourists. The tourist flow is thinnest on Mo...
2008-04-03 - Kochi, India. Juhan Samuel
A man in Kochi has raised a huge collection of news and photographs of Indian elephants culled from various dailies or other published materials. M.S.Manoj's collection includes photographs and news of accidents on railway tracks, temple festival, transportation of jumbos in vehicles and their plight, the famous Asiad Appu of India, and various other related issues ever happened in India. He started collecting news and pictures related to elephants in 1990 after coming across a news of his villa...
2008-04-03 - Puthenkulam, India.
Take Kerala’s love for elephants and add to it an elephant who is turning one and what you get is a gala birthday bash. Baby elephant Sivan turned one on Wednesday and his birthday celebration was an event people in Puthenkulam will remember for years to come. People came in hundreds to wish him, among them a former minister and actor Ganesh Kumar, but no one had doubts about who the VIP was for this one day. Sivan’s guardian Shaji was overwhelmed by the response his baby elephant got and sa...
2008-04-03 - Palakkad, India.
Thousands of people witnessed the Nemmara-Vallangi Vela which was celebrated on Wednesday with traditional fervour. In spite of the downpour all roads led to the Vela venue as crowds poured in to enjoy the panchavadyam and to see the elephants. Eleven caparisoned elephants were lined up by the Nemmara desam and another eleven by the Vallangi desam. The highlight of the festivities was the fireworks apart from the panchavadyam and the pandimelam by renowned artistes.
2008-04-03 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Sanu George
According to reports, Kerala has a population of around 900 captive elephants. The famed Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor owns the largest herd of 65. In a few months the Kerala forest department will open the first old age home for captive elephants in the country at Kottoor, 70 km from the state capital here. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility. The first phase will be ready in the next two months. The project when completed will house 30 elephants. The work will be comp...
2008-04-02 - Bangalore, India.
Four months after train services resumed between Bangalore and Mangalore, wildlife traders seem to be using the new train as a safe means to smuggle wildlife. On Monday night, the forest mobile squad of CID forest cell caught two persons who were carrying a pair of ivory worth Rs 45 lakh. The accused, Ibrahim (40) and Suresh (34), both hailing from Kodagu, are now being interrogated about the tusks' origin. The duo was arrested at the Mangalore railway station and handed over to Pandaveswara pol...
2008-04-01 - Bangdaki, India. ANIRBAN CHOUDHURY
Chipra Rani, 66, stands 8ft 11 inches tall and has been serving the government for over 40 years. She is the longest-serving trained elephant in the state, probably the country, said Bengal’s chief wildlife warden, S.S. Bist. “We have many kunkis (trained elephants) that are older than Chipra Rani, but she has served the department the longest. She is definitely one of the most experienced kunkis in India in terms of service,” Bist told The Telegraph.
2008-03-28 - Nilgiris, India. Natasha Raj
Tamil Nadu government has decided to build a public road right across the Sirur reserve forest in the Nilgiris. That`s right across Asias largest elephant reserve and is bound to hamper their habitat. NDTV has documents that reflect the TN governments nod to a proposal to connect this hilly terrain called Siriyur to Satyamangalam. The controversial project is slated to begin soon, but environmentalists are furious and poachers could only be eager for the road to complete. Close to 8000 of these ...
2008-03-27 - Thrissur, India. Kundur Sathya Narayanan / CNN-IBN
Thrissur (Kerala): Caparisoned elephants are displayed accompanied by the traditional panchavadyam orchestra on Thrissur Pooram every year. However, this year the Kerala High Court has thrown water over the festivities, even before they have begun. It has upheld an earlier ban on parading elephants between 1100 hrs (IST) and 1400 hrs (IST) at all festivals. The ban had earlier been modified to allow the Thrissue Pooram festivities, but with elephants running amok at the last Pooram, an animal ri...
2008-03-26 - Kokrajhar, India.
The number of Asiatic elephants is on the rise in Manas National Park situated in Baksa district of Assam. In the latest elephant census conducted in Basbari, Panbari and Bhuyapara ranges of the park, as many as 1,026 elephants were counted. Bhuyapara range topped the tally with 525 elephants being detected. Another 354 elephants were detected at Basbari range whereas 147 elephants were found at Panbari range. The park authorities are a happy lot with the rise in the number of pachyderms in the ...
2008-03-25 - Guwahati, India.
One person was killed and another seriously injured by a wild elephant near Kaziranga National Park today, official sources said. The victim has been identified as Tulsi Gogoi, while the injured, Buda Ganju, is undergoing treatment at the Golaghat civil hospital. Ganju, a resident of Dagaon, said the elephant tore down a treehouse where Gogoi was sitting and trampled him to death after he fell from the tree.
2008-03-25 - New Delhi , India.
The elephants are ravenous eaters of bananas and rice, and raid the fields, devastating everything. The farmers hunt them or poison them, to defend their meagre profits. Experts: better living and working opportunities must be given to the farmers. Elephants are at risk of disappearing from entire countries in Asia, because of ruthless hunting by farmers who are defending their fields. All over, rapid deforestation and the expansion of planting has increased the age-old conflict between elephan...
2008-03-23 - Guruvayur, India.
The Elephant Owners Federation state committee meet here on Saturday has urged Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan to intervene on issues related to the management of trained domestic elephants in the State. The High Court directions on the management of elephants are being misinterpreted by a certain group of people who have vested interests in toppling the Thrissur pooram and other festivals and are causing trouble to the elephant owners, he alleged. The majority of ezhunnellippu of Thrissur poor...
2008-03-23 - Jaldapara, India.
Five trained jumbo elephants have been shifted from Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary in Bengal to the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh by forest department to monitor the rhino rehabilitation centre and the tiger reserve. Two males - Gajraj and Mohanlal and three she-elephants Madhu, Chameli and Sulochana were chosen for the purpose of patrolling.
Elephants at the Dudhwa National Park have punished an elephant with isolation who had turned a nuisance for all due to its rowdy behaviour. The pachyderm was causing chaos all around. The incident has come to the knowledge of Rangers at the Dudhwa National Park. Sanctuary guides and Rangers say that that the jumbo is a male and has been boycotted by other elephants after turning violent and misbehaving with others. Mohammad Naseem, a guide at the Dudhwa National Park, noted that this particular...
2008-03-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Ashraf Padanna
Caparisoned elephants will be missing from the famed Thrissur Pooram, the most colourful temple festival of Kerala, from this year if the state’s forest authorities have their way. The state’s forest department has made it clear that it will be strictly abiding by the rules against parading elephants under the scorching sun during daytime and risk lives of thousands of devotees. “The rules are clear and they will be enforced. We are dealing with wild animals which do not know how to...
2008-03-21 - Madikeri, India.
A 65-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Gattadalla, police said here on Wednesday. Aravind was attacked by the elephant when he came out of a coffee estate on Tuesday morning, police said. Local people charged forest officials with not using funds allocated for solar fencing to prevent elephants from entering villages. Forest officials have assured payment of compensation to the victim's family, police said.
2008-03-18 - New Delhi , India.
2008-03-14 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Did you know that elephants ate eggs? Well, most of the zookeepers from across the country who took part in the mahout training programme also did not. They saw the jumbos being given a feed of dates and eggs at the elephant camp at Guruvayur. This was just one of the many elephant camps they visited as part of their training programme in elephant management and all of them in one voice said it was a great learning experience. They also had many tales to recite at the concluding session of the p...
2008-03-13 - Coimbatore, India.
To prevent elephants being hit by speeding trains, the ministries of environment and forests and of railways are considering setting up barbed wire fencing along several hundred kilometres of rail tracks in the Western Ghat forests straddling the borders of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The move comes after the death of a pregnant elephant, along with two other elephants, when they were hit by a train passing between Pothanur and Madhukkari stations, about 20 km from the textile town of Coim...
2008-03-12 - Nagaon, India.
It is another David and Goliath battle where the former prevails again. A string, and just that, has been able to play a role in halting the onslaught of the biggest of land animals. In parts of Nagaon district, strategically deployed strings in the path of wild elephants have resulted in reducing human elephant conflict to an unexpected degree, to the extent that some people have called it sheer magic. However, there actually is no magic involved. The promoter of the idea, Shimanta Goswami of N...
2008-03-12 - Berhampur, India.
Recovery of a decapitated elephant calf near Nimisola village in Palanga panchayat in Ganjam block has put the forest officials in a fix. The reason behind the death is still a mystery. A herd of about 15 elephants migrated from Chandaka forest to the Barbara jungle of adjoining Khurda-Ganjam area in January and created a havoc in Khallikote, Purushottampur and Ganjam block. The herd laid waste to standing crops, cashew plantation, coconut trees besides attacking villagers.
2008-03-10 - Lucknow, India. Tarannum Manjul
As a part of the Government of India’s Project Elephant, the state will soon get its own elephant reserve in Bijnore district under the Nazibabad forest range. The reserve will be called Shivalik Elephant Reserve. The reserve will not only have an exclusive protected area for elephants, but will also see to it that crop raiding activities — which affect those living in these areas — are brought down.
2008-03-10 - Mumbai, India.
The crime branch of the Mumbai police arrested two persons and seized elephants tusks worth over Rs7 lakh from them on Friday in Dahisar. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Raju Gawde alias Vishram, 24, and Aniruddh Sawant alias Kishore, 48, at the Nancy Colony bus depot while they were looking for prospective customers to sell the full-sized ivory tusks. According to the police, the duo was intercepted and the ivory tusks weighing 4.5 kg were found in their possession without any legal do...
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.
2008-03-09 - Kalpetta, India.
The tiger population in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is stable while there is a slight increase in the number of elephants, according to the just-concluded annual wildlife assessment. The 2006 census had found that the Wayanad sanctuary was home to about 500 elephants and the indications of the present study was that there could be an increase in elephant population. According to Mishra, poaching had been contained totally in the area. Based on direct sightings, pugmarks on ...
2008-03-09 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. S. BINU RAJ
The grace of an elephant is beyond words. B. Chandra Kumar, a photographer, has followed elephants for more than a decade. Elephants just happened to stray before his lens and thus dictated his frame. “It happened in 1995, during one of my assi gnments at the elephant training centre Kodanad. I was there to shoot the mischievous moods of little Parvathi, an elephant calf who had strayed into the camp from the forest. Those photographs were widely appreciated. After that I started following wil...
2008-03-08 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala government on Saturday directed officials concerned to strictly implement laws under The Captive Elephant Management Rules following a rise in the number of incidents involving elephants participating in temple festivals becoming wild,causing hardship to people. The officials should ensure that elephants engaged for temple festivals were free of any disease and the Festival committees should obtain a certificate from a veterinary doctor, an official press release said here on Saturday...
2008-03-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
In a case of alleged stealing of leopard claws, hair of elephant tails and peacock feathers from the zoo here, the zoo director has suspended a supervisor, pending an enquiry. The suspension was ordered yesterday, following an enquiry into a complaint by some medical college students from Nagpur, who had reported to authorities two months back that a staff member at the zoo had tried to sell leopard claws to them.
2008-03-06 - Calcutta, India.
“Our objective is to fight poaching and preserve endangered species and their habitat by extending financial assistance to the local people and helping them manage their resources better,” said Purnima Dutta, the secretary of the centre, which had recently organised a two-day camp on the Army Territorial Ground to spread awareness about the environment. “We have explained to the villagers the dangers of hula operation. Whenever elephants enter the villages, people light fires and burst cra...
2008-03-05 - Coimbatore, India.
A 20-year old cow elephant was found dead in Aliyar dam, near Pollachi on Tuesday. Sources said a herd of elephants entered the dam on Monday evening to drink water and one of them got trapped in the slush. The people, who saw the dead elephant on Tuesday morning, informed the forest officials. Forest officials recovered the carcass and conducted a postmortem.
2008-03-03 - Shillong,, India. Rahul Karmakar, Hindustan Times
It's not just militants that voters in Meghalaya have to contend with. As many as 194 polling booths in the state have been labeled sensitive due to the threat from marauding elephants. Meghalaya goes to the polls on Monday. Overall, 829 of the 1,599 polling booths to be set up have been labeled either hypersensitive or sensitive. Last month, state chief electoral officer P. Naik asked the forest department for guards to keep vigil around booths in West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills and Ri-Bhoi d...
2008-02-29 - Assam, India.
Two orphaned elephant calves and a rare 18-month-old rhino have been returned to the wild in northeast India. The animals were released into Manas National Park in Assam after they were found orphaned and then hand raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park.
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India. Mudassir Rizwan
Two people have been arrested here for trying to sell 2.5 kg of ivory worth Rs.250,000, the police said Thursday. Trade in ivory is banned in India. Aishwarya Vardhan, a 25-year-old graduate of the Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, and Raju Kanwar, a 24-year-old from Bihar, were arrested Wednesday from Shanti Path area in New Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) A.S. Cheema said Vardhan was earlier employed with an NGO and was now working with an import-export firm as an ex...
2008-02-28 - Madikeri, India.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (Madikeri division), B B Mallesh expressed concern over the increasing wild elephant-human conflict in the district. Delivering the keynote address at a Rotary Misty Hills function on Wild Elephant- Human Conflict here recently, he said that the situation had reached its peak in the last one-and-half year due to which seven people had lost their lives. Speaking on crops and property loss, he said in the last ten years, 31 people were killed and 43 injured seriously ...
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India.
Environmentalists and wildlife activists have pressed the panic button in the elephant corridor connecting Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the Asian tusker is under siege. According to an estimate by the NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), more than 20 elephants have died between January 2007 and January 2008 in southern India as a result of man-animal conflict.
2008-02-25 - Palakkad, India.
An elephant which was brought for the festival at the Palabhadra Devi temple in Shoranur ran amok and created some anxious moments on Sunday. Cherpulassery Neelakantan which was taken to the Bharathapuzha river for bathing at 11 a.m. failed to obey the mahout and got into a deep pit inside the river bed. It began to run helter- skelter when it was brought out of the pit. It was with great effort that the mahout managed to tether the elephant.
2008-02-25 - Manas, India. International Fund for Animal Welfare
Today, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare http://www.ifaw.org/) and its sister organization, WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) announced that 2 elephant calves and a one-and-a-half year-old greater one-horned rhino were successfully returned to the wild in Manas National Park. The animals, which were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga National Park, were translocated yesterday, by truck, 450 kilometers to Manas National Park.
2008-02-22 - Kochi, India. Ajayan
If elephants were stocks their price to tail-hair multiples would give a good indication of whether they are over-valued or not. Some revel in the prestige of owning an elephant but all talk of numbers is avoided because Indian laws do not allow animals to be used for commercial purposes
2008-02-22 - Guwahati, India.
The Gauhati High Court today admitted a public interest litigation (PIL) on protection and conservation of wild elephants arising out of frequent human-elephant conflicts and for protection of human life and property from elephant depredations in the State.
2008-02-19 - Guwahati, India.
For a team that spends most part of the year chasing elephants from human habitats, the forest department knows without even counting that the number of homeless pachydrems has increased in the past year. What it hopes to find out during the weeklong elephant census that begins in Assam tomorrow is whether this homelessness has affected the jumbo count. Most fear that the elephant count is going the tiger way — the National Tiger Conservation Authority has pegged the tiger figure at 70 followi...
2008-02-18 - New Delhi, India. Rajesh Sinha
In an unheard of incident, a wild elephant killed and devoured a man who came in the way of the herd in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. Elephants are herbivores. Though they’ve been known to go on the rampage, trampling or battering humans to death or destroying hutments and crops, there are no records of a pachyderm feeding on a human being. Confirming the incident which took place nearly a month ago, principal chief conservator of forests of Meghalaya VK Nautiyal, who was in New Delhi for a co...
2008-02-16 - Berhmapur, India.
Large tracts of cultivated land in several villages of Ganjam have been destroyed by an elephant herd that strayed into Barbara forest from Chandaka last week. The herd consisted of 11 female elephants, a tusker and four calves. In certain places, the herd has even reportedly attacked villagers creating panic in the region. Beguniapada, Khallikote, Purushottampur and Rambha areas are the worst affected. The herd was last located near Bagdevi mound at Purushottampur-Khallikote border and was chas...
2008-02-16 - Kalpetta, India. Jose Kurian
The proposed Nilambur-Nanjangod railway line across the Nilgiri biosphere, which passes through various wildlife sanctuaries would prove death-knell for the Asiatic elephant population, a major share of which is living in the Wayanad plateau, fear wildlife enthusiasts. Their fear is justified considering the fact that hundreds of elephants were killed on track in the last few years while crossing rail lines. According to the data available with the Wildlife Protection Society of India as many as...
2008-02-15 - New Delhi, India.
After the grim news on the tiger this week, here is something positive. The Indian population of elephants in the wild has jumped by more than a thousand. As per the latest 2007 survey, it stands at between 18,663 and 18,713. This is excluding figures from the N-E states for which the numbers are yet to be compiled. Last survey conducted in 2002 had pitched the figure for the country, excluding the population east of Chicken Neck at 17,170. The total population of elephants was 26,413. The bigge...
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) ...
2008-02-15 - Kollam, India.
The Elephant Lovers Association (ELA), Thrissur, has urged the Forest Department to seize the three elephants now under the custody of former Minister R Balakrishna Pillai and his son and MLA K B Ganesh Kuamar. Association secretary V K Venkitachalam said in a statement that Balakrishna Pillai and Ganesh Kumar had no relevant documents to claim custody of the elephants. The Association had received a reply from the Divisional Forest Office, Punalur, that Balakrishna Pillai has two elephants and ...
2008-02-15 - Coimbatore, India. GC Shekhar, Hindustan Times
Conflict for space between man and elephant has led to a poignant situation where the villagers of Madukarai, near Coimbatore, will soon build a temple in memory of three elephants killed by a train near their village on January 4. Two male elephants and a pregnant female elephant were run over by a passenger train during the early hours, as the engine driver was unable to spot them due to heavy fog. In the trauma the female elephant delivered the baby, which was born dead.
2008-02-14 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The ongoing man-elephant conflict had its echo in the Orissa assembly on Thursday with nearly two dozen members cutting across party lines expressing concern over the growing jumbo menance in different parts of the state. The issue was raised during zero hour with members, both from the ruling BJD-BJP and opposition Congress, CPI and JMM, demanding amendment in the relief coDe for giving adequate compensation to tHe affected people, mostly farmers.
2008-02-11 - Dhenkanal, India.
Though rampaging elephants are damaging cash crops in the district frequently, there is no compensation package for farmers. Farmers said on the one hand government is encouraging farmers to grow cash crops on the other it is not providing insurance to them in case of destruction. According to divisional forest office sources, population of elephants in Dhenkanal forests has increased to 180 against 80 two years back. As many as 25 persons were killed and more than 40 seriously injured in eight ...
2008-02-10 - Coimbatore, India.
The villagers of Karumbapalayam, on the city outskirts, today paid a 'traditional homage,' to three elephants, including a pregnant one, which were recently crushed to death by a train. About 100 residents, majority of them women, carried flowers, incense sticks and pots of milk and performed pooja at the site, where the carcasses were burnt. The priest performed pooja for nearly one hour, as women poured milk on the 'site,' said forest department sources , who attended the 'ritual' done traditi...
2008-02-09 - Palakkad, India.
The Wildlife Protection Society of India has demanded an inquiry into the death of three elephants after being hit by a train in Kurumbanpalayam near Madukkarai. The society said that the Railways should create an awareness among its drivers and co-pilots to drive at a speed of 20km per hour on the Walayar forest stretch. In a statement here on Friday project officer and coordinator of the Wildlife Protection Society of India Guruvayurappan said that eco-development committees should be constitu...
2008-02-08 - Vizianagaram, India. B Rajarao
Cutting across party lines, elected representatives of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts have expressed reservations about the proposal to set up an elephant sanctuary in the Andhra-Orissa Border in the two districts. It may be recalled that Forest Minister S Vijayarama Raju, while reviewing ‘Operation Gajendra’ announced that the State Government would set up an elephant zone and the tribals inhabiting the areas affected by rogue elephants would be relocated. However, the proposal was m...
2008-02-07 - Coimbatore, India.
The tragic end of three elephants on a railway track near Kurumabapalayam here has once again underlined the threat to the elephant corridors in this region. The increasing number of man-animal conflict recently is a result of vanishing private lands, the migratory paths once used by these pachyderms, into huge constructions. According to researchers, the upsurge in constructions on the foothills has hindered the migratory paths of elephants forcing them to take alternative routes and enter huma...
2008-02-06 - Chennai, India. P. Oppilli
The death of four elephants in Coimbatore on Monday has shocked wildlife enthusiasts and Forest Department officials. Raman Sukumar, professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said the Centre had already set up a committee to look into train accidents in which elephants were killed. The committee would visit all the places where elephants got killed while trying to cross the track.
2008-02-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A state of the art ultra modern aquarium and a naturalistic elephant enclosure was inaugurated by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Nandankanan Zoological Park near here on Monday. The education materials are displayed in form of 30 nos. of trans-slides display boards. It covers the all types of aquatic ecosystem. There is a special section which depicts the uniqueness of the marine ecosystem of Orissa. The new elephant enclosure has been developed over an area of 5 acres to provide a near...
2008-02-04 - Coimbatore, India.
A pregnant pachyderm was killed along with two elephants when they were hit by a train passing between Pothanur and Madhukkari Station, about 20 kms from the city, in the early hours of Monday. A Railway official said the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) was on way to Palakkadu from Erode, when it ran into the herd at 0130 hrs between Pothanur and Madhukkari. In the impact, the pregnant elephant delivered a calf which, too, died on the spot.
2008-02-02 - Jorhat, India.
The district has been reeling under the threat posed by a marauding herd of elephants which has been foraging in the riverine areas along the Brahmaputra river for the past one month. Due to the failure of the Jorhat Forest Division to chase away the wild jumbos from human-inhabited areas so far, the situation has turned tense in vast localities in north Jorhat. As rumours of the elephants veering towards the town spread last evening, there was panic among residents of Kokilamukh, Neamatighat, J...
2008-02-01 - Calcutta, India.
Wild Asian Elephants are among the largest animals walking the face of the earth, but their size is not saving them. In Northern India, dozens are being slaughtered, but not for their ivory. The elephants are locked in a deadly conflict with humans over living space. For centuries, elephants have been migrating from forest to forest. But now their migration patterns are bringing them into direct confrontation with India's expanding human population, more than one billion people who are chopping ...
2008-01-31 - Balasore, India. Hemant Rout
The fear of jumbos for the residents of Malyani village under Nilagiri area in Balasore is manifold. People here are forced to stay indoors as elephants from Swarnachuda hill have been terrorising them. The problem is not just limited to Malyani. Border villages of different elephant corridors have been frequently experiencing the problem. Besides terrorising people, the marauding elephants have been ravaging thousands of acres of crops affecting the economic condition of farmers. The man-elepha...
2008-01-31 - Khurda, India.
A wild bull elephant had to be killed earlier this week after it strayed into the Madhupur Village of Orissa's Khurda District. The jumbo, believed to be around 50 years of age, was shot down by a village elder Purnachandra Baliar Singh at night after it came too close to his residence and damaged the paddy stored outside his house. Seventy-eight-year old Purnachandra described the killing as an action taken in self-defense, said forest officials.
2008-01-31 - Amber Fort, India.
Animal protection groups have demanded a ban on elephant rides in Rajasthan's famous Amber Fort after two tourists were injured when the pachyderms they were sitting on tussled with each other. Amber Fort, around 12 km from here, is among the most famous hilltop forts in India. The 16th century fort built by Raja Man Singh is a perfect blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture and stands as a proud reminder of the building skills of yesteryears. Tourists usually take elephant rides to get into Ambe...
2008-01-31 - Rourkela, India.
A five-year-old girl, Purnima Nayak lost her life in an elephant attack at Ganua village in Koira. A male elephant had strayed into the residential area and destroyed six houses. The kid was crushed to death when a wall collapsed after the pachyderm went on the rampage. Irate villagers gathered near the accident spot after the elephant had left. On being informed, a team of police and forest department officials reached the area. They were detained for over six hours by the agitated villagers.
2008-01-30 - Shillong, India.
Election officials in Meghalaya face an elephantine problem to ensure that voting for March three polls is not disrupted by marauding pachyderms. Playing safe, election authorities are marking several booths as "sensitive" not from a communal angle or law and order factor but being vulnerable to possible attacks from elephants in the light of previous experience. Officials on wednesday said a scenario like a herd of drunk wild elephants moving dangerously near an election booth, chasing away ele...
2008-01-29 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
A tusker was shot dead at Madhupur village near Khurda today. Forest officials said that they had seized a gun from a person called Purnachandra Baliarsing. He claimed that he had shot the elephant in self defence. Investigations are on as the forest and police officials doubt Baliarsing’s version. The 68-year-old said that the elephant chased him. The animal had strayed from Chandaka forest in search of food and was feeding on the harvest of Purnachandra. These officers never come to ...
2008-01-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Incidents of elephants running amok have been on the rise in Kerala over the last few years. Violent pachyderms have killed several people and damaged property. Animal lovers have often attributed the unruly behaviour of captive elephants to ill-treatment or neglect at the hands of mahouts. But a recent study suggests that climate change may have something to do with the disruptive behaviour of pachyderms. The study by T.S. Rajeev of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Wayanad, P.J. R...
2008-01-28 - Gola Block, India.
A killer elephant that had frequently been on a rampage in two villages of Ranchi district was found dead on Saturday. The elephant’s body was found on the borders of Purabdih and Nausadih villages. Villagers of the terror-stricken area had named the elephant as “Laden”. Villagers, who had stopped going out of their homes due to the elephants terror, said they were not happy with its death.
2008-01-27 - Deopara, India.
In yet another instance of man-animal conflict arising out of dwindling vegetation, a herd of rampaging wild elephants killed one person and caused massive destruction to property in Deopara in Assam. The pachyderms also destroyed standing crops, apart from decimating houses on Saturday. Locals said that a herd of about 170 wild elephants is roaming in the forests of Assam. The elephants have become more active since Bihu (harvest festival) and in spite of repeated complaints by the villagers no...
2008-01-26 - Krishnagiri, India. S. Prasad
Incidents of wild elephants straying into human habitats and destroying crops have been on the rise in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. In 2007-08, 200 cases of crop damage caused by elephants were reported. According to an estimate, crops worth Rs. 7 lakh are damaged every year by elephants in the Dharmapuri forest circle. Of late, depredations by the elephants have been going on unabated, almost every day, especially from October to February in Thally and Pennagaram areas. With the result...
2008-01-26 - Jorhat, India.
A 75-year-old man was killed by a herd of wild elephants at Kokilamukh in Upper Assam's Jorhat district where the pachyderms have been creating havoc in the area since early January, Forest department sources said on Friday. The elephants trampled the person at Spur number eight of Kokilamukh and damaged several houses and and graneries there on Thursday night, sources said. The herd had come from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Nematighat area and had lost direction, and was moving downstream i...
2008-01-24 - Hyderabad, India.
Even as the tribals are living in a state of fear with the jumbos straying again into the agency areas of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, the government has dropped a bombshell by saying that people of nearly 100 girijan villages may have to be vacated once the Centre gives the green signal for the development of a sanctuary exclusively for the tuskers in the area.
2008-01-23 - Bankura, India.
The kunki (trained) elephants brought from the West Midnapore division have finally driven out the jumbo herd that had been rampaging the Bankura district for the past one month. Out of the 72 that had been on the rampage, only a few remain to be driven out. Senior forest division officials of Bankura and Bishnupur are, however, optimistic that the remaining few would be driven out in the next couple of days. Elephant herds from Dalma range in Jharkhand had intruded into the Bankura district and...
2008-01-22 - New Delhi, India.
Jungle law prevailed inside Delhi zoo on Monday as a mob of around 25-30 people - claiming to be the owners of elephants brought in for the Republic Day parade - attacked the zoo staff, including its director, D N Singh. According to sources, the elephant-keepers were waiting to hit back at the zoo authorities since last year, as they had complained against the mahouts for having misused the animals. Every year, elephants are brought in by the Delhi government from private owners for the R-Day p...
2008-01-21 - Kartik Chaori, India.
Continuous depredation by a herd of wild elephants in and around Kartik Chapori of the west Jorhat area, about 20 km off Dergaon has caused immense damage to the villagers in terms of destruction of houses and agricultural land. About 100 elephants have damaged as many as 150 houses in the past few months and vegetable farms etc, compelling the villagers to take shelter at Nahatia HS School and Nahatia Namghar and spend sleepless nights.
2008-01-21 - Coimbatore, India.
Four wild elephants, which strayed into human habitation at Chettypalayam, were guided back into the forest by forest officials here on Sunday. The pachyderms entering human habitation and the forest officials guiding them back into forest is not new here. On January 18, the elephants, which were earlier guided back into the forest, were spotted again at Chettypalayam. They had crossed Madukkarai, Neelambur bypass, Podanur and reached Chettypalayam. When the forest officials tried to guide them ...
2008-01-20 - Sindhudurg, India. Ashwin Aghor
The misery of elephants in Maharashtra may soon end as the state forest ministry has decided to set up a village exclusively for elephants and use this village as an eco-tourism attraction. The ambitious project will be first of its kind in the world. The state forest ministry is expected to soon enter into a memorandum of understanding with Earth Matters Foundations in this regard. The elephant village will most likely be developed at Tilhari Dam in Sindhudurg district. Pachpute said, It is the...
2008-01-20 - Orissa, India. D N Singh
There is a raging debate throughout the country over the increased conflict between man and animal. And, there is no denying the fact that the mysterious disorder in the climatic regime has pushed the problem of ecological imbalance back to the centre stage. Many instances in the past and the recent past should have served as a reminder for the planners and people in general to assess as to where things have gone wrong. But the fact remains that some wrongs can be corrected, while others are inc...
2008-01-20 - Madikeri, India.
A seminar on Man-elephant conflict organised by the World Wildlife Fund and the Coorg Wildlife Society was held at the Kannika International Hotel in Kushlnagar on Saturday. In his chief guest address, the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, I B Sreevatsav said that the department would send a proposal to the state government to tranquilize the rogue elephants, for which the locations had already been identified by the district forest officials. The deputy conse...
2008-01-19 - Nagercoil, India.
A dwarf variety of elephant has been identified in a recent census conducted by the District Forest Department in Kanyakumari wild life sanctuary limits. Kallaana, so-called in local parlance of Kanni tribals, would be a new discovery, if ascertained by wild life experts. Noting that the dwarf breed of elephants attains a maximum height of 1.5 metres, the District Forest Officer Sundarajan said that they do not inter-breed with common Indian elephants. The department has enumerated 21 elephants ...
2008-01-18 - Coimbatore, India.
Pongal celebrations in Coimbatore have something special to offer to its participants. Elephants are included in the celebration and they have become the main attraction here. Pongal is celebrated at a place called Top Slip at Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. Over 5000 people from all over the State participated in the celebrations. Tourists from abroad also attended the event. The participants were very enthusiastic to take part in the traditional festivities. “I think it is a good thing for...
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...
2008-01-16 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. R Ayyappan
Once again the same old elephant story. For the third year running, the State is being converted into a mass grave for captive elephants and their mahouts. During the Oct 05’-March 06’ festival season, a shocking 216 captive elephants and 54 mahouts were killed. Last season was no less shocking. 152 elephants died of torture and 68 mahouts were gored or crushed to death. Not even half way into the festival season, this year too seems no different. At least 17 elephants and seven mahouts had ...
2008-01-15 - Bangalore, India. Jayalakshmi K
The single largest global population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) can be found in Bangalore's backyard. In a stretch extending from Bannerghatta to MM Hills and further across BRT, Bandipur to Nagarhole and Wayanad (part of what is called Mysore Elephant Corridor), one can find over 6,000 elephants. But foolishly, we fail to see them as we eye the jungles as potential real estate to build our homes and lay our crops.
2008-01-15 - Rajabhatkhawa, India.
A baby elephant was dragged 900 metres and cut to pieces by a speeding goods train here last night. The driver was allegedly not following the rules laid down for trains passing through forests, which include speed limits. An FIR has been filed against him. Around 1.55am, an elephant herd was roaming the area, part of the Buxa Tiger Reserve, when the train heading towards Assam from Siliguri sucked in the 10-month-old animal standing next to the tracks.
2008-01-14 - Rameswaram, India. C. Jaishankar
A five-year-old ‘princess’ from Bihar will soon don the role of the official elephant of Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram. While temple authorities have begun preparations to conduct a grand ceremony, the ‘Pattathu Yanai’ is also getting ready to bless devotees and lead all temple ceremonies and festivals. The elephant, donated by noted industrialist Ramasubramania Raja of Rajapalayam, succeeds Bhavani which has completed nearly 45 years of service to the temple and was donated by...
2008-01-12 - Rangpur, India.
A wild elephant killed a man and injured another at a frontier village in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district yesterday, official sources said. They said the male elephant from the hills in India strayed into village Ufarmara Guriadaho in the morning and ran amok damaging houses, standing crops and property indiscriminately and attacking villagers. At one stage, Aminur Rahman, 30, of the village was trampled to death by the elephant that also injured co-villager Azgar Ali, 40. Azgar was rush...
2008-01-12 - Hassan, India.
A forest mobile squad along with officials of the Sakleshpur Forest Department and Sakleshpur police arrested three persons in the early hours of Friday and seized two elephant tusks together weighing 38 kg. Acting on a tip off, the sleuths intercepted a car near Yebbusale village on Mudigere- Sakleshpur road at 3 a.m. and seized the ivory. The names of the arrested have been given as Ansari, Nassir and Arun. Two other accused, Subbaraya Gowda and Raghu, escaped even as the police stopped the ve...
Two people were killed and at least 60 houses were damaged by a wild elephant at Uparmara village under Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat district yesterday. The dead were identified as Aminur Rahman, 30, and Azhar Ali, 48. The officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station said Aminur and Azhar were trampled to death by the elephant that entered the village at around 6:15 am. The people of Uparmar left their houses and took shelter at the nearby village as soon as the elephant entered the village. Ma...
2008-01-11 - Guwahati, India.
A beat officer of Kaziranga National Park was critically injured and a bleeding guard spent the entire night tied to a tree after villagers incensed by a woman’s death in an elephant attack chose to vent their anger on forest staff. Beat officer Debanga Bhusan Das and his men were least expecting the usually friendly residents of Neejgarpal, located on the fringes of the national park, to react so violently when they went to the village to help chase away an elephant herd that had strayed into...
2008-01-09 - Guwahati, India.
The army is fighting its “largest” adversary yet with a weapon “hotter” than the AK-47. Constantly harassed by wild elephants, the army is planting the world’s hottest chilli in its camp adjoining the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Mariani to ward off straying herds. “Everything else has failed. We are hoping that the Naga jolokia (Naga chillies) will do the trick,” a senior army officer said. Elephants are known to detest the smell of the Naga jolokia and the army hopes they will st...
2008-01-09 - Hyderabad, India.
The Hyderabad district administration has decided to take assistance of animal trainers from Tirupati and Srikakulam for training elephant, Rajni, to carry the historic ‘Bibi-ka-Alam’ during the Muharram procession on January 19. Reviewing the arrangements to be made for smooth conduct of Muharram here on Tuesday, Minister for Energy and Minorities Welfare Mohd Ali Shabbir said a mock procession with the Nehru Zoological Park elephant, Rajni, would also be organised as a precautionary measur...
2008-01-07 - Guwahati, India.
After two days of trying, Forest personnel today managed to rescue an elephant calf from inside the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city. The calf, a one-month-old female, is now recuperating at the Assam State Zoo. The calf, together with her mother, was apparently abandoned by the herd after the mother had suffered a serious leg injury, resulting probably from an accidental fall. The calf had no signs of injury but was extremely weak as it had not been able to feed on mother...
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 - ROURKELA, India.
Close on the heels of the death of an old man in Lathikata block, after he was attacked by an elephant, two women were seriously injured in the district in two separate incidents. According to reports, Dulari Kandulina, of Jamsora village was attacked when she was busy harvesting kolath. She was attacked from behind by an elephant which strayed near the human habitat. Fortunately, the villagers came to her rescue. In the second incident, Rasmi Bare, had ventured into the Pahadtoli forest to coll...
2008-01-06 - Raipur, India. IANS
The Chhattisgarh government has paid over Rs.76 million ($1.9 million) compensation in the past four years to forest dwellers for loss of life and property due to attacks by wild elephants, a statement said Sunday. The state's forest department paid the amount between financial years 2003-04 and 2006-07. A forest department official told IANS Sunday that about 90 percent of the compensation was paid for damage to standing crops and demolition of homes by wild elephants in the state's northern fo...
2008-01-06 - PALAKKAD, India.
All the owners of captive elephants have been requested to produce their elephants for verification , micro-chipping and issuing of health card at the following venues. On January 8, at the district veterinary centre on VH road from 10 am to 1 pm and at the Divisional Forest Office at Mannarkad from 2 pm to 4 pm. On January 9, venue will be at the M A Parameswaran and Company at Mangalamkunnu from 10 am.
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.
2008-01-05 - Agra, India.
on an Agra street - as captured in haste from the bus
2008-01-05 - Kodanad, India. Juhan Samuel
An elephant camp located here in the Malayatoor Forest Division is under Herpes virus threat, which has already taken lives of two young baby calves. The camp, which was once a hot tourist destination in the Kerala map for being a unique elephant orphanage, is facing tough time with the outbreak of the viral disease. Forest officials have started transferring elephants to nearby areas to avoid worsening of the situation, and have sprinkled bleaching powder and phenol to control the infect...
2008-01-05 - PALAKKAD, India.
The Elephant Lovers’ Association submitted an eight-point recommendation at the meet convened at the Collectorate conference hall here on Friday by the district administration to check the harassment of elephants by mahouts and owners during the coming festival season. Elephant Lovers’ Association president V.K.Venkatachalam suggested the setting up of pandals when the elephants are made to stand for long hours for ezhunnellippu in the sun.
2008-01-04 - SOMWARPET, India.
A wild tusker was found dead in the paddy fields belong to SJM Mutt in Gudugur under Somwarpet Forest Range limits on Wednesday night. The elephant died due to bullet injuries. It is said that the elephant entered into the village on Wednesday night in search of fodder from nearby forest. Unidentified persons shot the elephant on its forehead by using gun. According to forest officers, the elephant was aged about 30 years. The forest officials recovered the tusk from the cadaver and cremated it ...
2008-01-04 - Calcutta, India. SUBHAJOY ROY
Sourav Ganguly has a rival in popularity — that, too, on home ground — who is a good two feet taller and 2,450 kg heavier than Bengal’s biggest hero. Emblazoned on her grey-black jersey is the name children and adults call out to her by — Sabitri. The female elephant that not so long ago trumpeted out of the Olympic Circus tent in Ranigunj — responding to a tusker’s call — and romanced in the wild for a week before returning, is now the star of a circus in Sodepur, drawing thousand...
2008-01-04 - Sonitpur, India.
Putul Baruah and his family haven’t slept a wink in the past 48 hours. Neither have Birbahadur Dorji, Bolbahadur Karki, Ratan Das and Gyan Devi’s families. You can sleep only when you have a roof over your head, Putul said today, the anguish in his voice reflecting what he and the other villagers have had to endure since Wednesday. All five families watched helplessly as a herd of elephants rampaged through their paddy fields at Bokabeel near Sootea that night. The herd came calling again la...
2008-01-03 - Madurai, India.
An 11-year-old she-elephant of Sri Meenakshi temple on Wednesday ran amok after witnessing a fight between two street dogs. According to the Executive Officer of the temple B Raja, Parvathy who was bringing water for pooja, got scared on seeing the two dogs barking and attacking each other ferociously and ran into a hotel near the temple. The mahout managed to persuade the elephant to come out of the hotel and told it that there was no need to get scared. He also chased away the dogs and brought...
2008-01-03 - Shillong, India.
A herd of wild Asiatic elephants trampled to death a woman and her son in a village in West Garo Hills on Wednesday night, a wildlife official said today. The elephants entered Darugre village in West Garo Hills on Wednesday night and destroyed crops and several houses. The victims, Aprillish D. Sangma, 50, and her 13-year-old son Jakrik died after the elephants destroyed their house, the official said.
2007-12-31 - Cuttack, India. LALMOHAN PATNAIK
Orissa is facing a Catch-22 situation over elephant conservation, as more pachyderms are moving into human habitats due to destruction of elephant corridors. Wild elephants lumbered into Athagarh, a sub-divisional headquarters in Cuttack on December 25. The presence of a big herd of 40 wild elephants in areas near Chilka Lake, earlier in the month, was also unprecedented. The presence of elephants in Athagarh and Chilka, experts believe, is symptomatic of the alarming fallout of man-made disturb...
2007-12-30 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala government on Sunday ordered a probe into the death of two baby elephants at a camp for the pachyderms at Kodanad in Ernakulam district. Talakkad Chief Forest Conservator (Wildlife) would conduct the probe, an official release said here today. The elephants Aswathi and Niranjan had died recently after showing symptoms of 'herpis virus' infection. But the real cause behind the death could be determined only after getting final laboratory report, the release said. However, the officials...
2007-12-29 - Subrahmanya, India. Daijiworld Media Network
Now on, pilgrims to Kukke Shri Subrahmanya temple here will have a friendly animal to greet them when they arrive at this religious centre. A baby elephant named 'Yashaswi' has been donated by B S Anand Singh, a businessman from Hospet in Bellary district of northern Karnataka. The three-and-a-half-year-old pachyderm had been originally brought from Gopalganj near the Nepal border and purchased from the elephant 'mela' held in Assam.
2007-12-29 - UDHAGAMANDALAM, India. B Ravichandran
The Tamilnadu Green Movement (TNGM) has alleged clearing of forest area for constructing a resort. An extent of about 12 acres of green lands in Madhugatta at Bokkapuram, an elephant corridor, which comes under the purview of Supreme Court’s definition of forests is being cleared, presumably for the purpose of constructing resort, the movement said and threatened to move the apex court against the District Forest Officer (DFO) of Nilgiris North Division.
2007-12-29 - YAMUNANAGAR, India.
Haryana forests minister Kiran Chaudhry on Friday laid the foundation stone for an elephant rescue centre (ERC), first of its kind in India, at Bansantour forest here. The ERC was earlier planned in Chakbala Sahib area but it could not be realized due to land constraints. Centre has already released Rs 50 lakh for the Rs 90-lakh project. Construction of ERC is expected to be completed within a few months.
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...
2007-12-27 - Jaldapara, India.
Two elephants, Rahul and Devi, were ferried to Yokohama zoo from Calcutta on Wednesday by Air India’s ‘combo’ flight (passenger and cargo aircraft). The two elephants were brought to Calcutta airport on Tuesday from Jaldapara sanctuary. The aircraft landed at the airport around 6am and took off at 10am. The flight, usually from Delhi to Tokyo via Bangkok, was diverted through Calcutta on Wednesday for carrying the elephants.
2007-12-26 - Ranchi, India.
Jharkhand forest department officials are seeking to execute a rampaging wild tusker, an official has said. The 20-year-old elephant, called Laden, has killed 17 people in the past one year in Silli block of Ranchi district and neighbouring Purulia district in West Bengal. If Laden is not executed, more human beings could be killed by the tusker in the area. To save human beings the rampaging tusker must be executed, a forest department official told IANS.
2007-12-26 - Chandigarh, India.
The Haryana government Wednesday announced that a centre for rehabilitation of elephants would be set up in the state shortly. The new rehabilitation centre for the tuskers will be set up in Chhachhrauli block of Yamunanagar district in the state, 150 km from here. The centre will be spread in over 20 acres. A Haryana forests department spokesman said only those elephants illegally kept by people would be rehabilitated at the centre. He said that Haryana's forest minister will lay the foundation...
2007-12-26 - DHENKANAL, India.
Attacks on wild animals besides elephants have been on the rise in the forest areas of Dhenkanal district. The poachers, mainly jobless villagers, attack these animals for their valuable tusks and flesh. They make local bombs from the waste products of goat belly, gun powder and fire cracker powder to shoot at the jumbos the moment they strike. In one such incident in a forest near Bhagabanpur village, an elephant sustained serious injuries after coming in contact with a bomb. The wounded elepha...
2007-12-25 - SOMWARPET, India.
The Kodlipet citizens would organise a meeting at Kodlipet bus stand on December 27 to protest the government's inaction in not helping the victims who have been facing problems due to wild elephants menace. They also formed a committee to seek help from the government. Speaking to newspersons here on Monday, committee Convener and Kirikodlimutt Pontiff Sadashivaswami said that everyday wild elephants enter human habitats in Niluvagilu, Kyathe, Dodda bhandara, Besur, Kattepura, Janardanalli, Nee...
2007-12-24 - DHENKANAL, India.
Government may have implemented a number of projects for the rehabilitation of poor and physically challenged people, but it has turned a blind eye towards the sick and ailing elephant population of the state. With the increasing number of elephant rampage, the man-animal conflict has not only troubled the villagers, but also forest officials. The condition has further been aggravated by the local poachers, who have evolved strategies to target wild animals including elephants who continue to ra...
2007-12-24 - Jharkhand, India. Amarnath Tewary
Forest officials in eastern India have advised villagers to stock tiger urine and excrement to scare away a killer elephant and his marauding herd. The elephant, named after al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, and his herd have trampled seven people to death in the past three months in Jharkhand. Forest officials say elephants stay away from areas frequented by tigers.
2007-12-23 - Guwahati, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
After a brush with infamy last week when two royal Bengal tigers ripped off an overly keen amateur photographers arm, Guwahati zoo has gone into overdrive to project a friendlier face. If the zoo has Govardana and Divya — the two tigers who killed Jayprakash Bezbaruah — it also has Madhavi, an elephant that has played “surrogate mother” to at least six of the nine elephants in the zoo and “adopted” a seventh a few days ago. Madhavis enclosure is just a few paces from that of Govardan...
2007-12-22 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Siba Mohanty
What Sansar Chand had done to tigers of Sariska, Asfaque and Ram Thapa are doing to the elephants of Orissa. Slowly but surely, the jumbos are being hunted down, their tusks fetching millions in wildlife trade circuits across the country. Thapa was nabbed by police last fortnight but Asfaque continues to evade arrest till date. One of the better elephant habitats in India, with over 1,600 pachyderms, the State is fast becoming an operating ground for organised groups, some of which have had nexu...
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...
2007-12-22 - Bangalore, India.
All the States that come under the centrally sponsored Project Elephant scheme will henceforth have to submit an action plan about conservation and other measures to get the annual financial assistance, Inspector-General of Forests and Director of Project Elephant A.N. Prasad has said. Mr. Prasad said the action plan to be submitted for a period of five years should contain “monitorable” targets. “For example, a scheme related to elephant corridors should have the number of corridors to be...
2007-12-21 - Calcutta, India.
Bhola, the 42-year-old male elephant of Nataraj Circus, shook off the effects of the tranquilliser that was administered to him on Wednesday evening and tore down a part of the big top on Thursday. He remained restless all day, prompting police to ask the circus management to cancel all shows until he was shifted off the premises.
2007-12-21 - Bangalore, India.
ELEPHANTS will get a clear run between two forest reserves in southern India after an "elephant corridor" is set up. More than 1000 elephants will gain passage through the corridor linking the Edayargalli and Doddasampige reserves when land deeds are handed over to the Karnataka state forest department yesterday. India is home to an estimated 25,000 wild elephants, the most in Asia, but their numbers have been vastly depleted by poaching and habitat loss.
2007-12-20 - Bangalore, India.
An "elephant corridor" linking two forest reserves is being opened in southern India, giving the endangered animals unrestricted movement to feed and breed in the region, officials say. More than 1,000 elephants are set to gain right of passage through the corridor linking the Edayargalli and Doddasampige reserves when land deeds are handed over to the Karnataka state forest department on Thursday. India is home to an estimated 25,000 wild elephants, the most in Asia, but their numbers have been...
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.
2007-12-19 - Bangalore, India.
More than 1,000 wild elephants have been given a corridor that links two reserves in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, wildlife officials say. The land was handed over by the animal welfare groups to forest officials in a ceremony in Bangalore. They say that it is the first time that land bought by non-profit wildlife groups has been handed over to a state government to protect wild elephants. They say the corridors are vital to ensure their survival.
2007-12-18 - Bhubaneswar, India.
About 40 elephants have fled the Chandaka Sanctuary here and were on the rampage. This is described as a "winter phenomenon". The forest authorities came to know about the "sanctuary-break story" late Monday when reports reached them that a herd of jumbo inmates trampled a 62-year-old farmer to death. They also injured seven people and destroyed huge crops in a village called Tartua, which is about 50 km from here.
2007-12-18 - Ranchi, India.
Tribals in the remote villages of Jharkand have launched a massive hunt in the State's dense forest areas to end the mayhem and carnage unleashed by a 'killer' elephant. The killer elephant has become synonymous to a terrorist and the villagers have named the jumbo as 'Laden,' after the al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
2007-12-18 - Indore, India. Rajni Khaitan
An elephant walking around with designer shoes in the town has turned a big attraction for people, especially the kids. Radha, the female elephant, was gifted designer shoes for its front foot by Raju Sagar, who is a neighbour to her. The brown shoes are about two feet in length and shaped to suit the elephant's foot. It has thick leather at the bottom. "It took me a lot of time, almost six months to make these shoes. Though the shoes are now ready, I want to make more modifications for a better...
2007-12-17 - DHENKANAL, India.
With loss of lives and property escalating day after day due to the ongoing man-elephant conflict, the wildlife and top forest officials directly interacted with the villagers to know their plights for the first time. Suggestion were also given for an action plan to the locals. The direct interaction programme and information, education and communication [IEC] programme started yesterday at Mahavir road. Wildlife conservator, Mr PK Mohan, the former additional principal chief conservator, Mr Sur...
2007-12-17 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
One person B Chhotray was killed and four others injured when a herd of seven elephants which had moved out of the Chandaka forests entered a village near Nirakarpur last night. Forest officials said the herd had moved to stretches of wild grassland close to Chilka and since yesterday they had entered Aridi village of Nirakarpur. The injured have been admitted to SCB Medical College & Hospital, Cuttack, the Capital Hospital at Bhubaneswar and the Khurda Hospital. Five squads headed by div...
2007-12-16 - Angul, India.
After a lull of one year, elephant poachers in Satkosia wild life Sanctuary have awaken to activity again. According to a report a tusker is running wild in Kadalikhola area under Majhipara reserve forest of Satkosia with a bullet lodged in its head. Blood stains were also found which proved the fact that the tusker was indeed hurt. Local residents suspect the poachers are on the look out for the injured tusker.
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...
2007-12-14 - Tezpur, India.
Wild elephants are giving sleepless nights to farmers in the Helam revenue circle near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Sonitpur district. The man-elephant conflict has assumed an alarming proportion in this area with the increasing incidents of the tuskers damaging houses and destroying crops. The menace is taking a toll on the already distressed economic condition of the villagers.
2007-12-13 - DHENKANAL, India.
With food and water becoming scarce in the forests, wild animals like elephants, monkeys and bears continue to change their habits. It has become a cause of concern for the people who live in rural areas of the district. Instances of crops being damaged by elephants have become quite common. The locals have to spend sleepless nights as a result of this.
2007-12-13 - COIMBATORE, India.
The State has allocated funds to acquire 400 acres of elephant corridors, encroached in Tamil Nadu, said Forest Minister N Selvaraj here on Wednesday, after visiting forest watcher R Perumal, hospitalised following an attack by an elephant. A sum of Rs 2.68 crore has been allocated to make elephant corridors free of encroachments, the Minister told reporters.
2007-12-12 - Coimbatore, India.
The Tamil Nadu government was taking steps to acquire the land encroached by private parties along the forest fringes across the state, in a bid to curb straying of wild elephants to human inhabited areas. State Forest Minister N Selvaraj said today that the Government had already identified 400 acres of such encroached land. The government has allocated Rs. 2.68 crores for the purpose. Selvaraj was talking to reporters here, after visiting a forest official, injured in an elephant attack, at a ...
2007-12-12 - COIMBATORE, India.
A man was injured following an attack by one among the herd of elephants which strayed into the Chettipalayam region on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday. The forest department personnel were trying to chase the herd comprising one tusker, two cow elephants and a calf, when one of them stamped Perumal, a forest ranger. According to District Forest Officer I Anwardeen, District Collector Neeraj Mittal has been contacted and arrangements have been made to admit the injured to a private hospital...
2007-12-11 - Bhopal, India.
Re-emergence of wild elephants in Madhya Pradesh's forests is ironically both exhilarating as well as a cause for concern. Lately, pachyderms have been observed roaming in the jungles of Sidhi and Shahdol districts adjoining Chhattisgarh while isolated cases of elephant poaching were also reported, Forests Department officials informed.
2007-12-11 - DHENKANAL, India.
Elephants are found everywhere, along the road, in rural and urban habitations and even in places of tourist interest. Fearing that presence of elephants in large numbers would lead to decline in tourism, the forest officials here launched an awareness campaign,'Be aware of elephants' to educate tourists about the alarming situation. As thousands of tourists throng places like Kapilas, Saptasajya, Deer Park, Science Centre, Ganesh Khola and many other areas of importance the forest division aler...
2007-12-11 - COIMBATORE, India.
A herd of four wild elephants- a calf, one tusker and two cows-strayed into Chettipalayam region causing a flutter on Monday. A forester sustained minor injuries after he was given a `gentle’ kick by an elephant, while another officer sustained bruises following a chase by the animals. The forest officials received information about the wild elephants on the rear side of the government employees’ residential quarters at around 5 am. Around 7.30 am, Forester Natarajan, gone in search of the h...
2007-12-10 - RANI, India. Kishore Talukdar
The man-elephant conflict has assumed an alarming proportion here at the remote rural parts bordering Meghalaya with the incidents of killing as well as colossal destruction of standing crops by the herd of jumbos becoming the order of the day. The ill-fated farmers are reportedly on the receiving end as the menace has taken heavy toll on their already distressed economic state. Yet the Government is far from taking the matter seriously.
2007-12-10 - Orissa, India.
A canal project in Indias Orissa state has hampered the movement of the areas elephant population, resulting in the local government being forced to draw up a conservation plan to protect both the movement and welfare of the animals. Construction of the Rengali canal, and an irrigation project in particular, has directly affected the movement of over 600 elephants, the New India Press reported.
2007-12-10 - Berhampur, India.
Andhra Pradesh may have to wait for a few more days before taking any steps for driving away a herd of wild elephants back to their natural habitat at Lakhary Valley elephant reserve in Orissa. This was recommended by a high-level expert committee, constituted by the central government to resolve the row between the two neighbouring states over translocation of the pachyderms which had strayed into Andhra Pradesh from Orissa, official sources said today.
2007-12-08 - Coimbatore, India. V.S. Palaniappan
The forest department in Coimbatore district is initiating a series of measures to mitigate man-animal conflicts in the fringe areas of the reserve forests during the coming summer beginning from end of January 2008. The measures include provision of solar fencing in man-animal conflict-prone pockets, deployment of anti-depredation squads, installation of high power search lights to scare away pachyderms and habitat improvement programmes in the reserve forests.
2007-12-08 - Nagercoil, India.
With the onset of the pilgrim season in Sabarimala hill shrine, elephants in the nearby jungles were moving to the adjacent forests of Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district, forest officials said on Saturday. According to District Forest Officer of Kanyakumari, Sundar Raju, around 60 elephants have entered the forests in Kaliyal, Kulasekaram and Azhagiyapandipuram of the district. Speaking to reporters, he said that the elephants were terrified by the huge flow of pilgrims to the hill shrine.
2007-12-07 - BARIPADA, India.
The elephants have struck once again, and this time they have damaged standing crops of over 24 acres of land in Pal, Dhansul, Kasdihi, Ghanghana and Tadki villages during the last couple of days. According to agitated villagers, a herd of 30 elephants had crossed over from Chapaban forest of West Bengal and destroyed crops as well as seven huts in Kasdihi village. From then on, they are on the move, trampling crops at will, alleged the locals. The villagers have urged the administration to sanc...
2007-12-06 - Guwahati, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
Assam is having a lean season not only in terms of winter tourists but migratory birds, too. If violence is keeping tourists away this winter, migratory birds are staying away from one of their favourite seasonal habitats in the state because of the man-elephant conflict. For the past three months, the forest department and residents of villages in Jorhat district have been bursting crackers regularly to keep rampaging elephant herds at bay. The cacophony may not have scared the elephants away f...
2007-12-06 - Siliguri, India.
Wild elephant trampled a 60-year old lady to death at Mongpong Bhanga Basti under the Rambhi police station in Kalimpong subdivision last night. The deceased, Guma Devi Khadke was trodden by the tusker after she failed to escape the foray into her house at about 11 pm. The wild elephant also ravaged three hutments at the village before going back into the nearby forest from where it had arrived. The death of the aged lady sparked off an agitation in the area as no police or forest officials reac...
2007-12-06 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
The 80-year-old elephant, Arundhati, who succumbed to her injuries at Rajaji National Park in Dehradun in October due to multiple fractures in her right leg wouldn’t have undergone such an agonising end if she had been given the right pain killing drugs at that time. The incident has forced officials to formulate a policy on ‘problematic elephants’.
2007-12-06 - Bangalore, India. Team Mangalorean
The outskirts of Bangalore city today resembled an African Safari. A large herd of pachyderms roamed about freely trampling on the gardens, fields and chasing curious onlookers who came out of their houses. There were some calves also which were found in a bamboo grove near the village Jigani of Anekal Taluk in Bangalore Urban area. The herd lingered there for more than six hours since Thursday morning.
2007-12-06 - BERHAMPUR, India.
The high level committee appointed by the Centre to resolve the row between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh over translocation of elephants is scheduled to meet on Wednesday at Visakhapatnam. The committee, headed by a retired forest official from Karnataka, was appointed by the Centre following mounting pressure from Andhra Pradesh when the State Government strongly opposed forcible translocation of elephants from their territory to Orissa.
2007-12-05 - Guwahati, India.
A delegation of wildlife NGOs of the Northeast and the World Wildlife Fund today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop the killing of elephants in Assam and ensure conviction of people who intentionally kill them. Citing Assam’s Sonitpur district as an example where the problem is at its worst, members of the delegation requested Singh to generate political will at the state level to protect the forests and wildlife in the state.
2007-12-05 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
The memories of Kalinga - the nine month- old baby elephant of Chandaka Dampara Sanctuary which met with a sudden death after 40 days of ‘captivity for a cause’ - could now come through a documentary film to reveal the real story and more. The real life story will be transformed into the digital documentation with the active support of the sanctuary authorities who are producing the film and a team of volunteers who have come forward to contribute their efforts to make the venture a lifetime...
2007-12-05 - Kaziranga, India.
A 60-year-old tamed Asiatic tusker which killed an American tourist as well as the elephant she was riding in 1999 at the Kaziranga National Park has died of old age, but not without leaving behind some fond memories for park rangers. The nearly 10-foot elephant, named Godapani, died Sunday at the park, 220 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, bringing tears to the eyes of many officials and forest guards at Kaziranga.
2007-12-04 - western ghats, India.
Illegal electrification of farm fences has resulted in the death of many elephants due to electrocution in the western ghats. Shivakumar Kanasogi assesses the jumbo problem. Recently, in the western ghat region, a baby elephant died when it came in contact with the electrified fences of a paddy field. It had come in search of food along with its mother, when it was struck by death. The grieving mother ran amuck and ransacked the nearby village. It destroyed a cow shed and even attacked a calf.
2007-12-04 - Kotdwar, India.
One person was killed in an elephant attack at Sigaddi in Uttarakhand on Sunday night. Bharat Singh, 68, was trying to chase the tuskers away from his field. One of the elephants caught and crushed him to death. The district forest officer has declared an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5,000.
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.
2007-12-03 - Chennai, India. T.S. SUBRAMANIAN & DESIKAN KRISHNAN
STANDING on the beach, Yevgeniya watches wide-eyed as Vijayakumari, a seven-year-old elephant, hauls logs of wood up a slope and on to a platform from where they are rolled down. The young Ukranian had come on a tour of the island archipelago with her husband Indranil Chaudhury from Kolkata. And the deserted beachfront of Havelock Island, where young elephants are being trained by mahouts in logging operations, provides just the right kind of entertainment.
2007-12-03 - DHENKANAL, India.
Presently elephants are found everywhere in Dhenkanal district. They rule the road, forest, rural and urban communities. Forest officials have launched awareness campaign to educate tourists and picnickers to be aware of elephants. As December arrives the thousands of tourists throng to tourist places and places of importance like Kapilas, Saptasajya, Deer park, Science center , Ganesh Khola and many other places of importance. In addition to these visitors take a lot of interests to visit art a...
2007-12-02 - Guwahati, India.
Kaziranga National Park today lost its loveable rogue, a 78-year-old tusker who ferried tourists through the grasslands of the rhino habitat for 30 years before a mid-safari joust with a rival elephant killed an American woman and forced it into premature retirement. “We will miss him,” divisional forest officer Bankim Sarma said of Gadapani.
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.
2007-11-29 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Seizure of ivory, weighing about 42 kg in Rayagada, has once again pointed at a strong illegal wildlife trade in the State. Police on Wednesday seized the ivory from Rayagada district’s Muniguda area and handed them over to forest officials. Two persons have been arrested in this connection. The value of the tusks could be several lakhs since the average price per kilogram now depends on what a smuggler quotes, a forest official said.
2007-11-29 - SILIGURI, India.
The villagers of Dabgram, Salugara, Fabri and Bedgara villages adjacent to Eastern Bypass in Siliguri, are spending sleepless nights because of a scattered herd of 22 wild elephants. The pachyderm raids are keeping the forest officials deputed in these localities wide awake as well since they are finding it difficult to keep the beasts at bay. Last night, a group of four wild elephants, entered the village of Fabri and ravaged three huts. They also destroyed a sizeable volume of crops. No one wa...
2007-11-28 - DUN, India.
A female elephant has gone missing from the Rajaji national park of Uttarakhand. Mamata was roaming in Chilla range of the park along with two other elephants yesterday when a wild tusker approached them. While the other two, Ragini and Radha, went back to their training camps, Mamata decided to follow her ‘date’ and is missing since then.
2007-11-28 - PALAKKAD, India.
Animal lovers have demanded that the government take action against the Elephant Welfare Trust of India for organising a Gajamela here on November 25. The Wildlife Protection Society of India, in a complaint sent to the Forest Minister and the Chief Wildlife Warden on Tuesday, said that the Elephant Welfare Trust of India organised a Gajamela and a march on the city roads on Sunday. It was organised with the support of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Forest and Police Departmen...
2007-11-28 - KOLLAM, India.
Health cards issued by the Animal Husbandry Department have become mandatory for elephants to participate in temple rituals and gaja melas. At a camp organised at Kottiyam on Tuesday, 35 tuskers were issued the health card. The camp was organised by the department in association with the Forest Department, the Kerala Elephant Owners Federation, and the Kollam unit of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Senior veterinary surgeon of the AHD B. Aravind said that the tuskers wer...
2007-11-27 - New Delhi, India.
PARIS HILTON has denied claims that she’s been helping drunk elephants sober up. In the last few months there have been a number of cases in Northwest India where wild elephants have caused themselves harm after becoming inebriated by drinking homemade rice beer. It was reported that socialite Hilton had spoken up after hearing about six deaths in the elephant community which occured after they drank the potent brew. Conservationists applauded Hilton’s interference in the matter, hoping her ...
2007-11-27 - Calcutta, India.
Villagers in Teldhala had heard the same blood-curdling cries a year ago. This time, it was Kanchi Marak. The cornered fifty-year-old could do little to save himself as rogue elephants trampled him to death in his village on Dalangiri hills under Mancachar police station last week. In October last year, rampaging elephants killed four persons in the same village, located on the state’s border with Meghalaya. Months before that, four people, including a newborn, were trampled by a wild herd of ...
2007-11-26 - Srikakulam, India.
One more elephant of the group of nine which had been moving in these parts died, reportedly of electric shock, in Gopalapatnam village in Veeraghattam mandal on Sunday. With this, the death toll of elephants had risen to three. It may be recalled that this group of rogue elephants had been moving in these parts for the last two months and a journalist Nagaraju was one of its victims.
2007-11-26 - PARALAKHEMUNDI, India.
One of the elephants belonging to the jumbo herd, that sneaked into Andhra Pradesh recently, died of electrocution in AP on Sunday. The herd from Lakhari forest entered the AP limits recently and had caused extensive damage following which ‘Operation Gajendra’ was started. On Sunday, a herd of eight elephants was reportedly seen near K Gopalpuram village in Birgotam mandal, AP. Receiving information, a team of forest officials reached the village and found an elephant dead near a power trans...
2007-11-26 - PALAKKAD, India.
The gajamela-2007 organised by the Elephant Welfare Trust at the BEM high school ground here on Sunday was witnessed by hundreds of people. Fourty-one elephants were paraded during the show. More than 50 foreign tourists were brought to witness the show. Every elephant was brought to a specially erected platform and three foreign tourists were assisted to get on top of each elephant. A bed sheet was spread over the back of each elephant and two ropes were tied on each side for the tourist to hol...
2007-11-24 - Nandarbuni, India.
Villagers in West Bengal’s Birbhum District continue to be affected by elephants’ intrusion in human populated areas. In last five days, the Nandarbuni village in the District has witnessed two incidents of elephants running amok causing severe damage to standing crops and houses. On Friday, a herd of 15 elephants entered the village and damaged standing crops. Tuskers often come out of their natural habitat due to dwindling forests and enter human inhabited areas in search of food, r...
2007-11-24 - MIDNAPORE, India.
Farmers in the Chandra range in West Midnapore have been spending sleepless nights over the last few days because of the presence of 22 elephants, including two tuskers, in the region. These elephants - now on their way back to the Dalma habitat after spending three months in Bankura - had wreaked havoc there.
2007-11-23 - VIZIANAGARAM, India.
The Central Elephant Board is likely to depute a team soon to tackle the vexed elephant menace, which has badly affected the two districts of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam during the last four months. As many as 10, including a journalist of a vernacular daily, were killed and standing crops in hundreds of acres in both the districts were damaged by the jumbos.
2007-11-23 - Mumbai, India. B K Sharma
The author, Inspector General of Police and head of the State Crime Branch of Orissa, has an abiding interest in wildlife and is recognised as one of India’s leading experts on the illegal wildlife trade. It will come as no surprise to readers of Sanctuary that the world’s largest terrestrial mammal continues to be besieged from all sides. In addition to threats to its habitat throughout Africa and Asia, smuggling and illicit trade in ivory pose major challenges to law enforcement authoriti...
2007-11-22 - JORHAT, India.
The riverine areas of the district have been reeling under the impact of the depredations caused by a huge herd of wild elephants since the last fortnight. Villagers in Neamati, Meleng and Jhanjimukh areas along Brahmaputra river in northern Jorhat have been perturbed by the presence of the herd which has been devouring standing crops at random. The marauding jumbos are believed to have crossed over Brahmaputra from Majuli subdivision in search of food reserves.
2007-11-22 - Gauhati, India.
Four wild elephants were electrocuted after becoming entangled in low-strung power cables while foraging for food in the forests of India's northeast, officials said Thursday. The deaths, following the electrocution of six elephants last month, prompted conservationist to call for shifting the cables out of the elephants' shrinking habitat.
2007-11-21 - Mangaldihi, India.
Two persons were injured in a village in West Bengals Birbhum District while chasing away a herd of elephants, that went on rampage in paddy fields. Mangaldihi villagers said these types of incidents are common in the area. Tuskers are forced by their dwindling natural habitat to emerge from time to time in search of food, and therefore, come into conflict with the village population. “I saw an elephant around 6.30, it was drinking water in the pond, I informed others about it, a...
2007-11-20 - Guruvayur, India.
The elephants of the Sri Krishna temple here were taken in a solemn procession to pay tribute to their "legendary peer" Guruvayur Kesavan on his 31st death anniversary on Tuesday. The pachyderms, sans their glittering caparisons, stood before the statue of Kesavan in the temple premises for a while, raised their trunks and the team leader 'paid floral tributes' to the tusker.
2007-11-18 - PALANI, India.
Herds of wild elephants from the Ayakudi and Ponnimalai jungle ranges near Palani in Dindigul district have started entering the plantations once again. The herds have moved towards the plains from the hilly terrains of Kodaikanal because of the extreme cold in the area. One herd, which had entered the plantation of Marudhamuthu at Ayankulam near Ponnimalai, uprooted the coconut palms and banana trees there.
2007-11-13 - GAUHATI, India.
Paris Hilton is being praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Activists said a celebrity endorsement such as Hilton's was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms that get drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and then go on a rampage. The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them,'' the 26-year-old socialite said in a report posted on World ...
2007-11-12 - Palakkad, India. A Satish
Brothers M.A. Haridas and M.A. Parameswaran of Mangalamkunnu in the district who chose to rear elephants for the sheer love for them and who went on to become the largest individual owners after the Guruvayur Devaswom have begun to feel the heat of venturing into one of the riskiest business. From 18 elephants, they have begun to reduce their herd which now stands at 12. They had donated a 30-yearold elephant, Gajendran, to the local Pariyanampatta temple last year.
2007-11-03 - Kodanad, India. Naveen Nair
One and a half year old Bharti is still struggling to stand up. She was found by the caretakers at the elephant training camp at Kodanad in central Kerala last year with severe injuries. The baby elephant was apparently carried by the currents of the rain-swollen Chaliyar River in Nilambur district. Caretakers at the centre have now switched to ayurvedic treatment. In a few days we hope she will get up and walk, says Bharti's caretaker, Subramanian.
2007-11-01 - Kodanad, India.
The traditional ayurveda treatment has become the last resort for the female elephant calf Bharati, which is struggling hard to survive from arthritis at the Kodanad Elephant Orphanage in Kerala. When other inmates of the Kerala's famous elephant orphanage so far a morning with their mahouts on the road sides of Kodanad Forest range, the dilemma of the baby elephant Bharati and its Mahout Subramaniam are make to do so.
2007-10-28 - VIZIANAGARAM, India.
Operation Gajendra is in full swing with officials trapping one more rogue elephant near Seemavanivalasa in Jiyyammavalasa mandal on Saturday. They shot tranquilisers at the herd found grazing under palm trees near the village. But as they hurried on to trap the wild pachyderms, three of the four tranquilised animals managed to escape. The latest success comes close on the heels of the taming of three rogue elephants. Nonetheless, five more are still at large.
2007-10-24 - Bangalore, India.
Karnataka hosts a healthy population of the gentle giants. That's the finding of the agency which recently conducted a study of the elephant population in the state. The census carried out by the state forest department in May deduced that Karnataka has an estimated elephant population of 4,035. This is less than the 4347 in the 2005 census. Experts state that this is not a cause for worry, for the numbers tend to vary as elephants migrate from one state to another continuously. Also, this figur...
2007-10-23 - Gauhati, India.
Six Asiatic wild elephants were electrocuted as they went berserk after drinking rice beer in India's remote northeast, a wildlife official said Tuesday. Nearly 40 elephants came to a village on Friday looking for food. Some found beer, which farmers ferment and keep in plastic and tin drums in their huts, said Sunil Kumar, a state wildlife official. They got drunk, uprooted a utility pole carrying power lines and were electrocuted in Chandan Nukat, a village nearly 150 miles west of Shillong, t...
2007-10-23 - Karnataka, India. Ashwin Aghor
Wild elephants from Karnataka regularly stray into these villages and damage crops. Following the ever-increasing incidence of crop damage, and at times of human killings, by wild elephants on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border has led the state forest department to consider domesticating the rampaging tuskers. Tired of compensating the farmers for deaths and trampled crop, the department is trying to explore the utility of the wild animals for proposed eco-tourism which includes elephant safaris ...
2007-10-23 - HYDERABAD, India. Ravi Reddy
Andhra Pradesh has sought the assistance of neighbouring Orissa and Karnataka forest officials to tackle the elephant menace causing untold misery to the people of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts for the past few weeks. With the death toll mounting to eight and panic-stricken people in the rural areas spending sleepless nights, forest department has chalked out an action plan to drive back the nine-strong herd of elephants into the Lashkari wildlife sanctuary in Orissa.
2007-10-22 - Mysore, India. Krishna Kumar
A slice of the royal orient unfolded to a sea of humanity as the caparisoned elephants led the Jamboo Savari or the Vijayadashmi procession to mark the grand finale of the 10-day Dasara festivities here on Sunday.Bringing the curtains down on the “Naada Habba,” the Vijayadashmi procession, symbolising the triumph of good over evil and a tradition inherited from the Vijayanagar emperors, rolled out of the palace premises complete with ensemble of folk troupes and caparisoned elephant Balarama...
2007-10-21 - Srikakulam, India.
Rogue elephants continue to wreak havoc in north coastal Andhra Pradesh bordering Orissa, killing one more person on Sunday, taking the toll to eight since last week. The tuskers, which entered from neighbouring Orissa, trampled one tribal to death in Srikakulam district, about 600 kms from Hyderabad. Forest officials said the tusker menace has so far claimed 17 lives since Aug 13, when the first attack was reported in the district.
2007-10-21 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Akhel Mathew
Elephants in Kerala are set to enjoy a brighter future thanks to a new set of Forest Department rules aimed at ensuring their general welfare. Elephants are often forced to participate in religious festivals in a bid to add colour to the proceedings. The Sivagiri Mutt and the St. George Malankara Orthodox Christian Church in Thrissur have already vowed not to parade elephants during temple and church festivals.
2007-10-19 - Guwahati, India.
About 100 wild elephants converged on a river island in northeast India and were demolishing homes, feasting on sugar cane and panicking residents, officials said Saturday. Thousands of villagers were using firecrackers and bonfires in an attempt to scare away the rampaging animals, the officials added. Dozens of houses have been destroyed in the past three days by adult elephants entering human settlements to look for their wandering calves, said the local magistrate, L. S. Changsan.
2007-10-18 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Forest officials in Mayurbanj district have seized ivory worth Rs. 150,000 from a smuggler. The tusk weighing 21.9 kg and cut into five pieces, was seized from the accused Wednesday by forest officials at Malapada village in Mayurbanj district, about 350 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar. Acting on a tip-off about the smuggling of ivory by a tribal, we laid a trap early Wednesday to catch him red-handed, said Range Officer Jitendra Kumar Mohanty.
2007-10-18 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
If the Ministry of Environment and Forests has its way, movement of trains along the lines running through wildlife corridors would be stopped during night hours in Orissa, West Bengal, Assam and Uttaranchal, till preventive measures are put in place. Reliable sources said the Union Secretary has written to Rail Board on the same line after receiving feedbacks from states like Orissa and West Bengal over inadequate accident prevention measures made available along tracks in the vulnerable zones.
2007-10-17 - Coimbatore, India.
Forest officials in Tamil Nadu have initiated a drive to regularize and register captive pachyderms in the State by implanting microchips into their skin. The technique, officials said, will give the elephants a unique identification number that will help prevent manipulation of records, check elephant poaching and further domestication of wild animals. The concept will also help the forest authorities in making periodical assessments of the status of the elephants, as well as formulating polic...
2007-10-17 - Guwahati, India.
Launched by the forest department, the 150 specially trained mahouts and a few kunkis (leader elephants) will combat the growing depredation of wild tuskers by driving them away from human habitats without or little collateral damage. Elephant catcher Parbati Baruah has trained these commandos. Divisional forest officer of Kaziranga National Park Bonkim Sharma said, Earlier, domesticated elephants and their mahouts were used to catch wild tuskers. Now we have developed a special training module ...
2007-10-17 - Bhubaneswar, India.
After its role in managing natural resources, disaster management and more recently of malaria in the State, geo-information system (GIS) applications have come as a great help in another key area of wildlife management, i.e. reducing man-animal conflicts. As per a study by Chandaka Dampara Sanctuary authorities, the movement pattern of specific elephants, its flagship species, can now be known through proper GIS mapping over the years with the help of annual and seasonal data interpretation so ...
2007-10-17 - Purulia, India.
A tusker was killed after being hit by a goods train early this morning in Purulia today. The incident is the first of its kind in the southern districts of the state. There were several incidents of elephants being run over by speeding trains in north Bengal. The incident occurred between Torag and Suisa stations of the Ranchi division of South Eastern railway in Purulia around 1 am when a herd of 14 elephants was crossing the railway line.
2007-10-16 - Pune, India.
EVEN as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) continues its campaign against the entry of elephants in urban areas, the problem continues to be rampant in Pune, with yet another elephant found being used for begging by three men in the Loni Kalbhor area. The three men, clad in sadhu robes, have now been taken into custody and a complaint has been lodged at the Loni Kalbhor Police Station under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Bombay Beggary Ac...
2007-10-16 - BHUBANESWAR, India. Siba Mohanty
Orissa and Andhra Pradesh have long been fighting over a host of issues - from sharing river water to ownership of border villages. Now, the two governments have a common ‘elephantine’ problem. This is not over ownership. Rather, it is about a group of elephants AP badly wants to get rid of from its territory, but has been unsuccessful till now. Orissa, too, wants them back but does not know how to.
2007-10-15 - KURUPAM, India.
Tribals caught in the cross-fire between Maoists and police have run into another danger. Along the Andhra-Orissa border, during monsoons, elephants and other animals move downstream. Besides, increased mining in the neighbouring Orissa is forcing the animals to move south to safety. Their arrival is giving sleepless nights to the tribals. In the past four months, 11, including five in the Andhra Pradesh side of the border, have been crushed to death in stampede caused by the rampaging animals.
2007-10-13 - Golaghat, India.
Its tail had been cut and was hanging loosely from its outer skin. There were spears stuck on its head, back and leg. And its body bore deep cuts. Those who saw the elephant before it died could have sworn that it was begging for mercy. How the 13th elephant to be killed in Assam in northeast India this year - either by humans or in accidents - met its death is a story that animal lovers would hate to hear.
2007-10-10 - New Delhi, India.
Seven captive elephants in the Delhi have been micro-chipped by an NGO as part of efforts to regulate the trafficking and exploitation of the animals. By micro-chipping the elephants, we can monitor and control the illegal trade and trafficking of captive elephants. Elephant traders and owners resort to capturing elephant calves from the wild and separate them from their herds. said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of the NGO Wildlife SOS.
2007-10-06 - T’PURAM, India.
Captive elephants can be traded only with prior permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden and based on conditions that he sets, the Forest Department said here on Friday. The department came out with a clarification on the point following statements in the media by the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Association that no legal hurdles existed in the sale of elephants.
2007-10-06 - Bangalore, India.
It will be all about elephants on the third day of the wildlife week celebrations at the Bannerghatta Biological Park on Saturday. Children can debate, meet wildlife experts and also interact with villagers who encounter these animals often. As part the elephant day, the Forest Department is organising programmes to generate awareness about the animal. Programmes include pick-and-speak competition, quiz contest and question-and-answer session. The Forest Department has made arrangements at Arany...
2007-10-06 - Bokakhat, India.
Chilli-bombs and firecrackers, these are the simple but effective weapons that wildlife activists are encouraging people to use to chase away marauding elephants in villages near here. The aim is to ward off man-animal conflict situations as far as possible. Bokakhat town in Golaghat district is about 10 km from the famous Kaziranga national park in northeast India. Villages that fall on the Rajabari-Lokhowjan-Borsapori region near here have been witnessing elephant raids for the past several mo...
2007-10-05 - Bhubaneswar, India.
BHUBANESWAR, Oct. 5: The Nandankanan Zoological Park in collaboration with the Chandaka Wildlife Division, Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society, Orissa, WWF Orissa and CEE, eastern regional cell, will observe elephant day on 7 October and a Wildlife Week too. To mark the day, the zoo authorities have decided to organise the naming ceremony of the recently- rescued elephant calf, besides adorning the elephants and fixing a huge hoarding.
2007-10-03 - Jaipur, India.
Along with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jaipur's elephants are all set to show their acting skills in Ashutosh Gowarikars historical epic Jodha Akbar. More than 10 elephants from Jaipur would soon be transported to Maharashtra for taking part in the film's shooting. These elephants would be used by Gowarikar for filming the final shots of his historical movie Jodha Akhbar, Shyam Gupta, president of the Jaipur elephant owners association told IANS here Wednesday.
2007-10-03 - Chhatarpur, India.
The Panna tiger reserve here is making all out efforts to get the name of Vatsala, the oldest living elephant on the planet, included in the Guinness book of world records. Brought from Neelambur forest division in Kerala in 1993, the 92-year-old Tusker, steals the show at the reserve forest, attracting tourists inquisitive to know more about her. The Guinness book of world records mentions an 86-year-old elephant of Thailand as the oldest tusker on earth. But Vatsala has crossed the age under a...
2007-10-02 - Dehradun, India.
Arundhati, an ageing elephant suffering for long due to a fractured leg, died Tuesday night even as forest officials were planning to put the pachyderm to sleep despite initial protests from wildlife lovers. Veterinarians attending the animal were set to administer a lethal dose of anaesthesia ahead of the mercy killing when the 70-year-old breathed her last. Arundhati broke her front left leg about three weeks ago while she was being taken for a walk by her keeper in the Chilla forest range, ab...
2007-10-01 - Dehradun, India. Swati Thiyagarajan
The debate has ended and sadly so. Everybody agrees now that Arundhati, the ailing 72-year-old elephant, has to be put to sleep. Even the NGO and locals who had protested earlier seem to have reconciled with the situation. But the hitch is, forest department officials are still waiting for the drug required for the lethal injection. Sodium Pentathol, commonly used to put dogs to sleep is required in a large quantity by the officials, which is not available at the moment.
2007-09-30 - Mysore, India.
The elephants which take part in the Jumboo Savari every year are no different from your kids at home for the mahouts and kavadis and for their family members. Cajoling these 'special kids' is no different from cajoling your own kids at home, after you punish them, whenever they go out of way. If you give sweets and chocolates to cajole your children, the jumbos are given jaggery and sugarcane.
2007-09-29 - Dehradun, India. S M A Kazmi
By now, arundhati should have been dead. Killed by the needle that would have ended the agony of a multiple fracture on her massive, right foot. But Arundhati, 80, is alive. Arundhati, the elephant. Her life, scheduled to end today, has been kept on hold by the tears of an entire city, her mahout, the man who runs the park in which she lives, and the man who signed the death order. This leafy city has never come across anything like this before — the first mercy killing case of a domesticated ...
2007-09-29 - Mysore, India.
In the midst of hectic election process, the second batch of Dasara elephants arrived silently at Doddakere Maidan here on Friday. Elephant Harsha and Vikrama from Dubare, Sri Rama, Abhimanyu, Sarala and Kanti from Sunkadakatte, K. Gudi and Thithimathi forests arrived at Doddakere Maidan. Deputy Conservator of Forest and veterinary doctors welcomed the elephants which were later taken to the camp at Palace Complex. The first batch of the elephants were welcomed on a grand scale and were taken in...
2007-09-29 - Palakkad, India.
A 12-year old elephant was killed when it was hit by a running train near the Walayar forests between Chullimada and Kanjikode on Friday. The elephant, which descended from the forests, was hit by the Kochi-Tiruchirapalli Tea Garden Express at around 2.30 am in the wee hours of Friday. The elephant, after being hit, was dragged over a distance of half km. Only the skin, trunks and the legs were recovered while all the internal organs laid scattered over a distance. A post-mortem was conducted on...
2007-09-23 - Chennai, India.
Giving details of the world famous Thrissur Pooram, organised for the first time in the city, at a press conference here, Association President M Nanda Govind said the city police had firmly denied permission to bring elephants from Kerala. Some of them would be mechanised elephants, operated remotely. They will raise their trunks and even bless the visitors, he said, addding the caparisoned life-like elephants would be displayed with full decorations, including silk umbrellas, peacock fans and ...
2007-09-21 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Veterinarians at a zoo in eastern India struggled Friday to save an orphaned baby elephant who was injured when a train killed its mother, officials said. The 4-month-old elephant was brought to the Nandankanan Zoo in the city of Bhubaneswar with slight injuries, but its chances of surviving without its mother were estimated at 50 percent, said zoo director Ajit Patnaik. The Nandankanan zoo earlier had the opportunity to take care of more than 20 orphaned wild baby elephants and nearly 50...
2007-09-20 - Dehradun, India.
An adult elephant was found dead in Barkot forest range of Doiwala area in the state, the official sources today said. The pachyderms death came to light last evening when villagers informed the forest guards patrolling the area about the animals body lying there. The sources, however, have ruled out any foul play behind the mammals death as his tusks and other vital organs were found to be intact. A postmortem is being conducted to ascertain the cause of the elephant's death.
2007-09-20 - Keonjhar, India. Swati Thiyagarajan
Two female elephants were killed when a goods train rammed into them in Orissas Keonjhar district. Two other elephants of the herd trying to cross a railway track have been injured. The track falls on the usual migratory route of the herds. A big male bull with injuries is still at large while two female elephants were killed outright. A baby elephant injured and shocked after the accident has now been removed to the Nandakanan zoo for care.
2007-09-20 - Kochi, India.
Film personalities, including Dilip Kumar and John Abraham, have taken up the cause of elephants by urging all states to ban the entry of the animals into urban areas. Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, Abraham, Raveena Tandon, Yana Gupta, Rahul Khanna and Celina Jaitley are among those who have signed a petition of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals that asks all chief ministers not to allow elephants to enter urban areas.
2007-09-19 - Keonjhar, India.
Two female elephants were killed on the spot and two others sustained injuries when a goods train ran over a herd in this mineral-rich district early on Wednesday. The train accident leading to death of two elephants was said to be the first major accident in the state. The accident took place about 10 km away from Joda town. Forest department personnel rescued one of the two injured elephants from the spot after the locals informed them about the mishap. The injured baby elephant, which lost it...
2007-09-17 - Bangalore, India.
The book, Elephant Kingdom (published Aug 2007, Mapin) was launched last week in Bangalore. Elephant Kingdom traces the myriad stories and symbolisms behind India's much-loved animal throug its depictions in architectural sculpture. At the heart of the study is a collection of over sixty color photographs from a diversity of antique sett ings, many of them in remote parts of the sub continent.
2007-09-17 - Mysore, India.
Mahouts looking after the Dasara elephants are literally on the streets as the make-shift tents erected for their temporary stay have been damaged due to the incessant downpour of the last three days. More than 50 members of the mahout families, including children are taking shelter in the Mysore Palace grounds as it is impossible to live in the temporary tents in the prevailing rainy conditions. Adding to their woes, the food materials they had kept in the tents have also been ruined.
2007-09-16 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Ganesh Chathurthi meant holiday for the seven elephants of the Jumbo Circus. Special poojas were conducted for the pachyderms and they were treated to specially-prepared food. Circus artistes wearing traditional Kerala sarees applied tilak on the foreheads of the kneeling elephants as other artistes looked on. Elephants are among the few animals which are currently allowed in circuses after the Central Government banned wild animals like tiger and lion.
2007-09-15 - Mysore, India.
The VIPs, from the ministers to the commissioner of police, Mysore, were all there. So were the hosts of priests and senior officials, to greet them with the traditional nadaswaram, to offer special prayers and to invoke divine blessings for their welfare. For Balarama, Bharata, Varalakshmi, Gajendra, Arjuna and Revathi, this pampering, however, is not new. They go through this ritual, enjoying every minute of it, once a year. Balarama and his five friends comprise a batch of 12 elephants that w...
2007-09-15 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Nandagopal Nair
A Vinayaka Chaturthi with a difference was celebrated in Kerala where the Gods came alive at a circus in Thiruvananthapuram. NDTV has an exclusive report. The Gaja Puja on Ganesh Chaturthi is an annual event and is a thanks giving to the animals that draw in the crowds all year round. Usually on Ganesh Chaturthi we do this puja. We worship our elephants, said Ajay Shankar, partner, Jumbo Circus. A 57-year-old Zulban Ali has been taking care of the elephants at the circus for thirty years. A fift...
2007-09-12 - Bangalore, India.
Ivory worth lakhs of rupees was recently recovered from an antique dealer in Bangalore. CNN-IBN Special Investigation team along with the Karnataka Police unearthed one link in the illegal trade in ivory. On Monday morning, the teams managed to get a confessional statement out of one of the accused Murthy. “I was selling the ivory on someone else's behalf,” he said. Murthy was arrested by the Karnataka Police's Wildlife cell on Wednesday morning. Just a day before, he was accosted by CNN-IBN...
2007-09-12 - Bangalore, India. Raghava M.
Flouting well laid-out guidelines enunciated by the Supreme Court, forest officials at the Bandipur National Park have left the carcasses of wild elephants as food for other animals, an official inquiry has revealed. Eight elephants were found dead at the park between June 2006 and June 2007. The State Police (Forest Cell), which is inquiring into the elephants deaths, found that the carcasses were left in the forest without either being buried or cremated.
2007-09-11 - Nagaland, India. S.Nsemo Tungu
A herd of wild elephants continues to create havoc in Yanmhon Old village area for the past several years.Several appeals have been made to higher agencies for attention even in the past. Above all, for the last few days they have been aggressively disturbing the villagers, destroying paddy fields around the village and even destroyed few houses and a granary on the foot hills of the village, endangering human life causing untold fear psychosis to the villagers.
2007-09-09 - Mankarai, India. Jehovah. G
An ailing elephant, known for its notoriety for long in the villages on the outskirts of Coimbatore, has been saved from living with excruciating pain, courtesy forest rangers and wildlife officials' timely help. The jumbo, believed to be around 13 years of age, is said to often enter the villages and habitats in Mankari in search of food for the past couple of years. Often it devoured and damaged the crops. A few days ago, the villagers noticed the elephant ailing in the fringed reserve forest ...
2007-09-06 - Jaipur, India.
Elephant owners in Rajasthan are miffed over the delay in getting their licenses for elephants renewed as it has led to the jumbos sitting idle and their owners being financially hurt in the busy tourist season. Dozens of elephants are used to ferry tourists to the Amer fort, on the outskirts of Jaipur, and the September month marks the beginning of the tourist season here.
2007-09-05 - Durgapur, India.
Naughty Sabitri has returned home after a whirlwind romance with the tall, dark bloke she bolted with a week ago. The couple were a fair distance from each other this morning, possibly after having made love. A forest team stepped in and created a din, which drove the hunk away. Forest officers said the tusker had got what he wanted. Sabitri, too, had had the moment of her life. She responded to her mahout today after giving him the cold shoulder for days.
2007-09-04 - Bangalore, India.
The Forest cell of Karnataka police has stumbled upon evidence of poachers luring elephants to swallow bombs, concealed in their food. The tectic is aimed at killing them. According to Superintendent of Karnataka police’s Crime Investigation Department (Forest Cell) S.D. Jawaharlal, the post-mortem report of at least two elephants, who were found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary, had revealed that the jumbos had chewed explosives that had exploded in their...
2007-09-03 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A female elephant died due to illness in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri District. Workers of a tea garden found the elephant lying sick and alerted forest officials, who called in veterinary doctors in an attempt to save the jumbo. Despite the efforts of the veterinary doctors, the female elephant succumbed on Sunday. Animesh Bose, the coordinator of a voluntary organisation, said over 15 elephants has died in north Bengal, this year. According to the 2005 national census, there are between 25,000 to...
2007-09-02 - Bangalore, India.
It's the season of jumbo love, and the elephants in the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) are celebrating it with a rare candour. If West Bengal's Ranigunj saw elephants eloping, BBP reported two overactive cow elephants missing for three full days - they returned to the park on Saturday morning, only after an extended honeymoon with wild tuskers. Jumbo romance is not uncommon at the park, located 22 km from Bangalore. Six cow elephants have turned the park into a happy hunting ground for wild ...
2007-09-01 - UDAGAMANDALAM, India.
Deaths of a tiger and an elephant on a single day, at Mudumalai wild life sanctuary have shocked the forest officials and the wild life lovers alike. In the first incident, forest officials found the carcass of a tiger near the elephant camp, with its hind leg injured. Adding to the shock, a 15-year-old female elephant was found dead in a case of suspected electrocution. Officials said the pachyderm might have come into contact with charged fences near tourist lodges.
2007-08-31 - Calcutta, India. Ranigunj
Their trunks slung around each other, Sabitri and her mate can savour a few more days of bliss. The forest department has decided to leave the lovers alone through the mating season. This is the time for them to mate and it may take as much as a week or even three days for them to lose interest in each other, said Kumar Vimal, the Durgapur divisional forest officer. A 26-year-old wild tusker from Jharkhand had broken through the fence of a circus in the middle of last night, found his 20-year-ol...
2007-08-30 - Mysore, India.
A three-day old female elephant calf rescued from the flood waters in Dhobara forest range in Kodagu district, was handed over to the Mysore zoo on Wednesday. Forest officials said the calf was rescued on Tuesday and brought to the zoo, where it was under veterinary care. Its condition was satisfactory. The new arrival has a 'friend' in the five-day old male elephant calf, which the forest officials had rescued from mandya district and handed over to the zoo anothorities. It was also under treat...
2007-08-30 - Guwahati, India. Sushanta Talukdar
The Assam Forest Department has clamped a ban on use of private elephants for begging in the State in response to an appeal made by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In his order, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam M.C. Malakar, said private elephants were made to beg on roads by performing tricks and manoeuvres, especially in front of temples. There were instances of the animals going berserk, injuring and killing innocent peop...
2007-08-30 - RANIGANJ, India. Debajyoti Chakraborty
A huge tusker, straight out of the jungle, raided a circus in the wee hours of Wednesday, freed a female elephant and eloped with her to make a cosy home by a pond in Raiganj. This tale of untamed love has yet another bizarre twist: a second female elephant, said to be "very attached" to the one that fled the circus, has broken down and is grieving for her "mate".
2007-08-29 - West Bengal, India.
A man was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants while retuning home through a forest in Bankura district of West Bengal, claim villagers. Bantul Lohar, 59, a day labourer, was Monday night crushed by wild elephants at Hurahur forest range near Sonamukhi, about 150 km from here, local media reports said. His body, which literally turned into a lump of flesh, was recovered Tuesday morning.
2007-08-28 - Orissa, India. Sampad Mahapatra, Jay Mazoomdaar
Two years ago, the Orissa government was all for elephants. Now, two years after the Centre cleared their proposals for two new elephant reserves, the state government has mysteriously changed its mind. Not surprisingly, the Centre is puzzled. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has written to the state: The sudden decision of the state government to not notify the elephant reserve is puzzling. In case the state governments feels that any further rationalization of boundaries of the pr...
2007-08-25 - VIZIANAGARAM, India.
Forest Department officials have reached Puttajammuvalasa village in Gummalakshmipuram mandal, near where a herd of elephants was sighted moving. The trackers, mahouts and trained elephant Jayant from Chittoor district are expected to reach the affected places on Friday night and start drawing up an action plan to curb the menace the wild herd poses to human habitations, District Forest Officer BV Ramanababu told this website’s newspaper. Meanwhile, according to reliable sources, seven persons...
2007-08-23 - Guwahati, India.
A newborn elephant abandonded by its mother in a reserve forest has found a new home and a foster mom in the Assam State Zoo here. The baby jumbo was heard trumpeting in the Rani Reserve Forest, on the outskirts of Guwahati, two days ago by residents of nearby villages who informed forest officials, said the zoo's Divisional Forest Officer Narayan Mahanta. The next day, the villagers found the calf wandering about in the area and informed the nearby forest beat office. Forest authorities immedia...
2007-08-23 - Madikeri, India.
The Karnataka Forest Department has submitted a project report to the state government to shift wild elephants from Kodagu district as they faced problems due to severe loss of habitat, shortage of food and depleting forest. Deputy Forest officer Mallesh told newspersons here today that the project, costing Rs 15 crore, would also help solve the conflict between wildlife and the human beings. Due to erosion of its habitat the elephants had been entering villages and had killed five people in the...
2007-08-22 - Vijaynagaram, India.
Three people were trampled to death in an Andhra Pradesh village when elephants went on the rampage. A horde of elephants late Tuesday strayed into Vadabai village in Vijaynagaram district, bordering Orissa and about 700 km from here, and went berserk. There was panic as they killed the three tribals and caused widespread damage to the crops in the area, officials said. Forest officials have reached the area to try and push the animals back to their forest abode.
2007-08-20 - Bankura, India.
A boy was trampled to death by wild elephants at Chhatna area in Bankura district on Monday. The 14-year old unfortunately fell before an elephant herd that strayed from Dalma forest in search of crops, forest department sources said. Local people alleged there had been numerous depredations by elephant herd in the area in past but the forest department did little to save the villagers.
2007-08-20 - Pune, India.
Wild life lawyer Mahendra Kacchava, who was instrumental in getting actor Salman Khan convicted for poaching a black buck, will be in the city to fight for two elephants Lakshmi and Poornima rescued in June after they were found walking the city roads begging for their mahouts. While a criminal case was lodged under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) against the two mahouts, the elephants were taken to Katraj zoo. Kacchava, who has been hired by Maneka Gandhi’s organisation People for Animals, ...
2007-08-19 - KEONJHAR, India.
Poachers have become effective with the cancellation of the Baitarani Elephant Reserve Project. A tusker was killed in Banamahuladiha forest in Patna and the tusks were taken. The forest department came to know about the incident on 17 August while the carcass indicated that the crime was committed a week ago. While the forest department could not investigate the matter due to incessant rain the villagers said that there is sufficient proof to establish that it is a handiwork of the poachers. Mr...
2007-08-19 - Deogarh, India.
A herd of wild elephants on Saturday entered Kadamdhar village here and ran amok after the villagers tried to chase it away. In the melee, an elephant injured one Pachindra Sahu. He suffered a fracture in the leg and had to be admitted to Deogarh Hospital. Last week, another herd of wild elephants went on the rampage in Cheplipali and Suguda gram panchayats under Tileibani block, a few km from the Deogarh town area.
2007-08-19 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
No festival in Kerala is complete without the majestic spectacle of caparisoned elephants swaying to the frenzied beat of drums and the blare of trumpets. To the casual observer, the pachyderm seems to be relaxed and completely at peace with itself. Very few realise that, behind the visage of calm and poise lies a tale of misery and suffering inflicted by man.
2007-08-18 - Burdwan, India.
Two wild elephants created a scare in West Bengal, as they frolicked in a river close to human habitation before vanishing back into the woods. The pachyderms, which presumably got separated from a heard migrating across the forest in Purulia district, were spotted frolicking in the Damodar River near Maithon dam in Burdwan district. The residents feared that the elephants might run over their fields and pull down their dwellings but the harmless animals made merry in the river waters before van...
2007-08-17 - Godibari, India.
An elephant, after escaping from a sanctuary, went on rampage and died of chocking here on Friday. Motilal, a fifty-year-old trained elephant of the Chandaka sanctuary, situated about 10 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar, broke free from the sanctuary and went on a rampage at nearby Godibari village. This male elephant escaped from the sanctuary at midnight and entered in a nearby village. Two teams from our division followed him to avoid human casualties, but they failed to control him. Then we call...
2007-08-16 - New Delhi, India.
Wildlife groups have created individual photo identification cards for Asian elephants in southern India in a bid to help track the effects of poaching on wild elephant populations, conservationists said Thursday. By being able to specifically identify animals, researches get a better idea of elephant numbers and movements in an area. It can also help law enforcement in the event that an elephant carcass is discovered, said a statement from the New-York based Wildlife Conservation Society, which...
2007-08-16 - Guruvayur, India.
Tusker Keerthi owned by the Guruvayur Devaswom turned violent and killed its first mahout Gopalakrishnan, 45, of Changanassery at Chettuva near on Wednesday. The tusker had been taken to the Anayoottu ritual at the Ganesamangalam temple near Chettuva along with four other jumbos of the devaswom. Keerthi first attacked its second mahout Sadasivan of Ponnani on the way to Punnathur Anakotta. Sadasivan has been admitted to the West Fort Hospital, Thrissur. After the attack the tusker had turned cal...
2007-08-16 - Gauhati, India.
Two domesticated elephants went on a rampage through several villages in northeastern India, killing eight people and injuring five before being shot dead by police, officials said Thursday. Police were searching for the owners of the elephants and trying to establish what caused the violent behavior, rare among tamed elephants. Angry villagers protesting the lack of protection burned down the local forestry office. The rampage occurred Wednesday in an area bordering India's Assam and Mizoram st...
2007-08-13 - Guwahati, India.
Wild Asiatic elephants trampled to death four sleeping villagers of a family in Assam, the latest in a series of attacks on humans, wildlife officials said yesterday. A forest official said a herd of about a dozen elephants on Saturday entered Uttarkuchi village in Baksa district, about 90km west of Guwahati. "The elephants went berserk, smashed a village hut, and killed the entire family of four, including two children," the official said.
2007-08-12 - Dehradun, India.
After the decline in the tiger population, Uttarakhand has now reported a sharp drop of 10 per cent in the number of elephants, mainly tuskers, in the state. The latest census report of 2005-07 has revealed that the number has come down to 1,346 from 1,510 recorded two years ago. The population of elephants stood at 1,582 in 2003 which clearly indicates that the situation has worsened during the past four years. But the Uttarakhand Wildlife Department, which conducted the census, is not worried ...
2007-08-12 - Udhagamandalam, India.
As many as 12 tamed elephants have been shifted to the Theppakadu camp from the Bombax Elephant camp, following heavy rains and the overflowing of the Moyar river in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctury area. With the new arrivals, there are now 24 elephants at the Theppakadu camp. The event turned out to be a reunion of the tamed elephants at the sanctuary with others when the outbreak of anthrax near the camp occurred some six months ago.
2007-08-12 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
Fortunes of mahouts all over the country may soon change if Project Elephant officials’ proposal of shifting elephants along with their mahouts to wildlife sanctuaries and parks across the country is accepted by the ministry of environment and forests. Project Elephant officials are brainstorming over the idea and will soon send an official proposal to the ministry. The director, Project Elephant, Mr AN Prasad said: Yes, we are contemplating a proposal to shift elephants and mahouts to wildlif...
2007-08-10 - Gauhati, India.
Two wild elephants were killed when they were hit by a freight train in India's remote northeast Friday, officials said. The elephants were knocked down while crossing the tracks along with a herd of nearly 20 pachyderms near Gauhati, Assam's capital, said M.C. Malakar, the state's chief wildlife warden. An adult elephant and a calf took the maximum impact of the train and were killed, Malakar said. The train engine was derailed by the impact of the collision, said T. Rabha, a rai...
2007-08-10 - Madikeri, India.
A Gram Panchayat Secretary was seriously injured when a wild elephant attacked two people at Nanjarayapatna in this hilly district. The incident occurred last evening when Nellihudikeri Gram Panchayat Secretary B E Veeraraju and another person were walking home when a jumbo charged at them from behind the thick foliage of trees at once. While Mr Veeraraju was seriously injured when the pachyderm pierced its ivory into his stomach, the other person ran to safety in time. Thinking that he must be ...
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...
2007-08-06 - West Bengal, India. Soudhriti Bhabani
The unnatural death of 11 wild elephants within a span of three months in West Bengals northern region has left the state forest department stumped as the wildlife tragedy is being blamed on an increasing man-elephant conflict arising out of urban encroachment in forestlands. We are highly concerned about the frequent deaths of elephants in north Bengal forests and we have already taken necessary steps to find some solutions, West Bengal Chief Wildlife Warden V.K. Yadav told IANS.
2007-08-05 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Faced with criticism for withdrawing proposals of two new elephant reserves, the State Government has tried to put up a brave face by going on record that it had already prepared a master plan to protect the jumbos. The plan, according to Forest Department, has been placed before the Centre for its approval. There is, however, more to it than meets the eye. The Rs 52-crore master plan that the Forest Department is talking about now is actually an Elephant Management Plan the Wildlife Wing had pr...
2007-08-05 - Lucknow, India. Shailvee Sharda
Meet Sumit, a 40-year old elephant and his 50-year old mahaout-friend Kishen. When Kishen walked down the railway track opposite Sumit's enclosure, he started swinging his trunk in excitement. "Kaisa hai tu..ha?" asked Kishen patting his back. The animal saluted his friend trunk-up, telling he was fine. Kishen asked "Khana khayega??" and Sumit shook his head and blew its trumpet crying with authority 'yes I am hungry'. The conversation went on till Sumit's stomach was full. "I have known him for...
2007-08-04 - Jalpaiguri, India.
At least three rhinoceroses and 30 elephants have been causing havoc in the Jadavpur tea garden in Jalpaiguri district, destroying tea bushes. The animals have put a complete stop to work in the garden as panicked workers refused to report for duty, the manager of the tea garden, Pradip Ghosh said today. More than 200 tea bushes have been destroyed by the frenzied herd of elephants in the garden, which is located close to the Gorumara National Park, Ghosh said.
2007-08-04 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
A week after withdrawing a proposal for setting up of two elephant reserves, the Orissa government has prepared a master plan for protection of the pachyderm population in the state. "We have chalked out a Rs 52 crore master plan for protection of elephants. The state government has sent it for the Centre's approval," said Forest Department Special Secretary Priyanath Padhi.
2007-08-02 - Jharkhand, India.
Thursday 02nd of August 2007 Juhi and Anarkali dislike being overworked. They also loathe going out in the noon or in the afternoon. Faced with the recalcitrance, the bosses of these two female elephants are feeling helpless. Any remonstrance meets with a resounding shriek and stamping off the feet. Such disobedience has not gone down well with the authorities of the Betla National Park. But they do not know how to deal with these disobeying elephants, who take tourists on a ride at the sanctuar...
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.
2007-07-31 - Pernem, India.
The Forest Department has failed to drive out the elephants, which have strayed into the State, to Maharashtra as the four tuskers are still seen around Khutwal village of Pernem taluka, destroying paddy fields and plantation. A small group of men, using firecrackers, drums and other percussion instruments, have been trying to drive out the animals without any success, for the last four days.
2007-07-30 - Bamondangi, India. Pinakpriya Bhattacharya & Prithvijit Mitra
Her cries pierced the morning air in Bamondangi forest. As villagers peeped out of their homes in fear, the mammoth animal appeared from behind the trees and bushes, hobbling on three legs and desperately trying to keep moving. It kept lashing its trunk on the ground in pain. After struggling for more than an hour, it collapsed and bled to death. A few miles away, her death was ‘avenged'. The dead elephant's herd - at least a dozen of them also bleeding from bullet injuries - went berserk in a...
2007-07-29 - Guruvayoor, India.
After a month-long rejuvenation treatment during the monsoon, 64 elephants of the Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayoor, are all set to take up their various tasks at the shrine. The elephants have to perform various rituals in the temple every day including 'seeveli' (the temple idol placed atop the pachyderm and taken round the shrine). At least five elephants are deputed for the temple tasks everyday.
2007-07-29 - Jalpaiguri, India.
At least 33 houses were damaged by an elephant herd at Turturi in Dooars area of Jalpaiguri district triggering panic in the area. The pachyderms, which strayed into human habitation for the past seven days after dusk, devoured paddy resulting heavy loss to standing crops, official sources said. The herd damaged 19 houses in the labourer settlement of Chuniajhora Tea Estate alone.
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.
2007-07-27 - Cachar, India.
Indian police have shot dead two elephants after they rampaged through villages in northeast India killing eight people and injuring nine. The elephants, used for moving logs in the timber industry, ran amok in Cachar district in Assam state, destroying dozens of bamboo and straw houses. Villagers say the animals destroyed whatever was in their way, either trampling people or dashing them to the ground with their trunks.
2007-07-27 - Hyderabad, India.
It maybe just another walk for Vanaja, a forty-year-old elephant that has seen many a procession since the last three years. But with the Bonalu procession day drawing nearer, officials are a worried lot. Vanaja, which participated in the Moharrum procession last year, got a little panicky causing alarm among the processionists and officials. Mahouts are sparing no efforts to train Vanaja not to react in different situations. For the past few months, special efforts are being made to get it accu...
2007-07-26 - Ahmedabad, India.
The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) is planning a brand new house for Ashok and Roopa. Like their friends Ganesh, Raja, Seema, Danny and others, these two teenagers too will be proud owners of a sprawling one-acre estate soon. Ashok (17) and Roopa (15) are elephants at the Kamla Nehru Zoo in Kankaria. Ever since they were brought to Ahmedabad from Banerghatta National Park in Karnataka in 1992, they have lived separately in modest houses of 225 sq ft, having merely enough...
2007-07-26 - Mumbai, India. Nitya Kaushik
The Forest department on Tuesday decided to ban elephants on the city roads, ‘confiscate’ them from their owners and order the latter to leave the city precincts with immediate effect. However, with no strategy in place, no rescue or rehabilitation centres, and no sanctuary in the city to send the animals to, the ban appears headed nowhere.
2007-07-25 - Silchar, India. Partha Sarkar
Eight persons, including five women died on the spot when two domesticated elephants attacked their houses yesterday night at Hawaitang , Tulatal, Bagawala , Kooliechera and Siggarbasti, which are located atleast 40 kms away from the city. The area falls under the reserve forest of Dholai Range. Irate local residents in the meatime torched the Hawaitang Forest Beat Office today afternoon.
2007-07-22 - Thrissur, India.
Forest Minister Binoy Viswam said that a proposal to stipulate the retirement age for domesticated elephants and rehabilitate them in natural setting was under consideration of the state government. The Minister said that the government of Sri Lanka had implemented such a programme some years back and the centre where the aged elephants were rehabilitated in a natural setting had now become a major attraction for eco-tourists.
2007-07-21 - Mysore, India.
A male orphaned elephant calf, aged about 25 days, was received by Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore on July 7. The calf was rescued from the flood waters at Dabbadka stream in Sampaje Range of Madikeri Forest Division. The calf is responding to treatment and hand-rearing methods. Except for some minor ailments the calf is healthy. Since the elephant is very young, the prognosis is for the next two months. Maximum efforts have been initiated towards hand-rearing of the elephant calf, ...
2007-07-21 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A state still struggling to strike a balance between industrialisation and ecology has witnessed a rise in the number of elephants even in the face of intense mining and deforestation activities. Add to that the growing menace of poaching. The latest elephant census has put the total number of elephants in Orissa at 1862. In 2002, when the last comprehensive census was carried out, their number stood at 1841. According to a WWF report, the elephant sex ratio in India varies from 1:26 to 1:46, an...
2007-07-19 - Chandigarh, India.
After a lull of two years, the Chhatbir Zoo witnessed the birth of a baby elephant, Rajveer, in the wee hours of Thursday. The baby elephant was born to Hema and Rajmangal at 2.10 am. According to the zoo authorities, Hema had a normal delivery and the baby weighed 103 kg at birth. It was born after a gestation period of 22 months and nine days, a delay of nine days. Rajveer is the second elephant ever to have been born at Chhatbir zoo after Seema, his sister, who was born in 2000. However, Seem...
2007-07-19 - SILIGURI, India.
An elephant calf was found dead on the bank of the Reti river at Dalgaon in the Dooars today. Locals spotted the two-year-old female calf lying by the Reti riverbed early this morning and intimated the forest officials. Officials from the Dalgaon forest range rushed to the spot and they later declared the calf dead after a thorough check-up. Later, with assistance from the state veterinary department, forest officials conducted a postmortem of the carcass.
2007-07-18 - Siliguri, India.
Villagers alerted forest officials this morning seeing the baby being split from elders by the Balason near Marianbarie Tea Estate. The baby was sent to the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, about 140km away, escorted by a veterinary surgeon. It would be kept at the pilkahana — where trained elephants are housed.
2007-07-18 - Jashpurnagar, India. Ajay Sharma
Driven to desperation by the frequent intrusion of elephants from forest areas in Jharkhand and Orissa, residents of over 100 villages in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur District are having sleepless nights over fears of another jumbo attack. Another 32 villages in Raigarh, Sarguja and Korba Districts are also at the mercy of these marauding pachyderms. Irrespective of day or night, these elephants tend to storm villages and catch villagers off guard.
2007-07-17 - BANGALORE, India.
A farmer was trampled to death by an elephant near Sathnur in Kanakapura taluk of Bangalore Rural district in the early hours of Monday. The police said that around 6.30 a.m. Range Gowda, 50, was working on his farm at M.T. Doddi, 5 km from Sathnur. An elephant strayed into the farm and trampled him, killing him on the spot, the police said. Later, the elephant destroyed crops in adjoining fields. People from the village burst firecrackers and beat drums and chased the elephant into the adjoinin...
2007-07-17 - Thrissur, India.
A hugely revered temple in southern India rested its herd of elephants from daily duties to give them a month-long restorative treatment. Vadakkunathan Temple at Trissur in southern Kerala has 45 jumbos, which are normally used for temple rituals. But during the Malayalam month of Karkidakom, when all temple festivals are over, these elephants are given a month-long restorative treatment called Aanayoottu (feeding the elephants).
2007-07-15 - Mysore, India.
The elephant census from Chamarajanagara Wildlife Division in forest circle has indicated a rise in the male-female sex ratio of the pachyderm. The census has indicated that there is one male elephant for every four female elephants in the region and the sex ratio has been described as healthy. It used the block count, line transact and water hole count methods to examine family size, elephant structure and population trends.
2007-07-14 - New Delhi, India. Danish Shafi
The little, off-white elephant lines up behind another of his herd on Zameer Baig’s table. Zameer has done a good job of the bone carving but all his father Nazeer does is give him a dejected nod of approval. The father-son duo belong to a vanishing community of ivory artisans. “We are still called that but we don’t work on ivory anymore. We now carve on animal bones, that of camels and anything else that we manage to source,” said Nazeer.
2007-07-14 - Ranchi, India.
The population of elephants has declined sharply in Jharkhand with poaching and confrontation with human beings suspected to be the main causes for the decrease. Jharkhand has registered a sharp decline of 148 tuskers in the census conducted in May this year. According to the counting that took place between May 7 and May 12, the elephant population has declined to 624 from 772 reported in the last census conducted two years ago. According to forest department figures, in confrontation with elep...
2007-07-13 - Naxalbari, India.
Fifty-three-year-old Kharananda Jaishi was killed by a berserk elephant in Naxalbari, in Darjeeling district this morning. The tusker attack came close on the heels of an elephant being shot dead in the Indo-Nepal border area on Tuesday after a herd strayed across the border. In 2002, a female elephant went on a rampage, killing 13 people in a row after she lost her calf. Similar accidents have been reported in the past. Herds of elephants, after being forced to retreat, had gone on a rampage in...
2007-07-13 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
A lower court in Delhi may soon have to arrange for a much larger witness box or conduct its proceedings in the parking lot. The case relates to a dispute over ownership. The elephants’ microchip numbers, inserted in the skin behind the ears, did not match the numbers mentioned in the ownership certificate. “Every elephant is marked and a record is maintained by inserting a microchip so that its identity can be verified. When we checked the numbers in the microchips, they did not matc...
2007-07-12 - Bhubaneswar, India.
In a bid to contain elephant intrusion into human habitations, the Orissa government has initiated a series of measures including easy availability of food and water inside jungles for the pachyderms. Elephants were mostly coming out of forests and entering human habitations in search of food and water, Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, said in the State Assembly last night.
2007-07-11 - Pune, India.
A Month after the State forest department took two elephants into its custody after their owners were found using them for begging, one of the elephants, Lakshmi, was released by Judicial Magistrate First Class S J Ansari. Lakshmi, who is partially blind due to a cataract in both eyes, was released on a bond of Rs 2 lakh to be paid by her mahout Rameshchandra Pandey, after he furnished the legal ownership certificate issued by the Forest Department at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
2007-07-10 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
As many as 43 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the State’s tribaldominated Sundargarh district during the last seven years. Replying to a question from Prafulla Majhi (Cong), Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said of the 61 elephant attack deaths reported, 43 cases were confirmed and compensation had been paid in all these cases. Patnaik said the State Government had increased the ex gratia compensation amount from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh recently.
2007-07-09 - Ahmedabad, India. Vikram Rautela
Shes tall, dark and graceful even at 60. Not only that, shes got a swinging gait. Mahants at the Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur will blow conch shells to welcome her on the morning of July 16. After all, she has the privilege of being the first one to bless Lord Krishnas rath yatra. We are talking about Gulab, one of the most revered elephants in the temple, who has been leading the rath yatra for the last 35 years.
2007-07-09 - Tumkur, India.
In a ghastly incident, an elephant trampled an eight-year-old boy to death while he was offering it a banana on the premises of Siddalingeshwara temple in Yadiyuru of Kunigal taluk on Sunday morning. The deceased is Sachin, son of an autorickshaw driver of Nandini Layout in Bangalore. Sachin’s elder brother Sanjay, however, managed to escape from the attack of the elephant. The temple was ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the parents.
2007-07-07 - Mysore, India.
Elephant 'Balarama', which was carrying the golden howdah during the world famous Dasara festivities procession, was severely injured when it was attacked by another elephant at Moorkal elephant camp in Nagarahole National Park, near here. According to forest officials, 'Balarama' was released to the forest in the night along with another elephant 'Abhimanyu' a couple of days back for grazing. 'Abhimanyu', who went berserk, along with other elephants, gored him.
2007-07-07 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A rehabilitation centre for aged elephants has been planned in Kerala, state Forest Minister Binoy Viswam said Thursday. An ideal forest spot would be identified soon for, Viswam informed the state assembly today. Taking note of incidents of elephants turning violent during festivals, a scheme to impart scientific training to mahouts has been drawn up, Viswam said in a written reply. The wildlife department had taken steps for effective implementation of Kerala captive elephants (management and ...
2007-07-06 - New Delhi, India.
The results of the five-yearly elephant census are pouring in and, unlike the tiger census results, project elephant officials are all smiles as the animal population is on the rise. Mr AN Prasad, inspector general of forests and director, project elephant, ministry of environments and forests, said, The elephant population has always been increasing but, in recent years, it has shown an amazing upward trend.
2007-07-05 - Bharatpur, India.
Orissa will build a memorial for a baby female elephant which was rescued by state wild life officials on May 5, but died a few days later after its reunion with its herd. The elephant named Kalinga, was kept in the Bharatpur wild life sanctuary for a month after it was rescued by the wildlife officials. But, its carcass was recovered on July 1 at Bharatpur on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The state forest and environment department will build the memorial at the spot where the carcass was recov...
2007-07-02 - Guruvayur, India.
The month-long annual rejuvenation therapy for jumbos owned by Guruvayur Devaswom began at Punnathur Anakotta here on Sunday. Devaswom chairman Thottathil Raveendran formally inaugurated the rejuvenation therapy by giving the special diet food to Seshadri, the new member of the elephant family of the temple. Eldest elephant Gajaratnam Guruvayur Padmanabhan, Gaja Samrat Guruvayur Valiya Kesavan and other seven elephants are not included in the annual therapy owing to their masth period. They will...
2007-07-01 - Bhubaneswar, India. Sulochana Das
Calf elephant Kalinga, which hogged the headlines for several weeks after it strayed into the Capital city and its subsequent return to the wild a fortnight ago, is no more. The seven-month-old elephant calf was found dead inside the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city on Sunday. The post-mortem report indicated that the elephant calf had not died due to starvation.
2007-06-30 - Thrissur, India.
An anonymous letter threatening the safety of Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple here has been received by the Devaswom administrator. Guruvayur Devaswom Committee Chairman, Thottathil Raveendran said today that a letter received by the administrator yesterday also said that all the 64 elephants in the temple's possession would be killed. The letter was handed over to the Crime Branch division of the police for necessary action, he said.
2007-06-28 - Doimari, India.
Six hand-raised elephant calves being readied for release in a wildlife sanctuary in Assam are raring to taste freedom as monsoon-induced fresh vegetation offers them a rare food extravaganza. As part of a unique plan to set them free, the calves were brought to Doimari in the Manas national park from their earlier home in Kaziranga, about 350 km away, in February. All of them were between one year and two years old when they were rescued from different parts of Assam. They were raised at the Ce...
2007-06-25 - Manas, India.
The six hand raised elephant calves being readied for release in a National Park in the eastern Indian Assam state are enjoying the monsoons, frolicking in the swelling streams and eating the new shoots of grass that have sprung out of the wet earth. Conservation organizations, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) had built a night shelter for the elephant calves deep inside the Doimari forests to protect them from predators.
2007-06-25 - Bangalore, India.
A 40-year-old tusker was electrocuted at a private estate near Kaggalipura on Saturday. The elephant had strayed around 11 km from the forest area in Thalaghattapura and five km from Kaggalipura. The police said that it had come to the estate in search of food when it came in contact with a live wire and was electrocuted. The officials from both Bannerghatta forest division and BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) visited the spot. The incident occurred at around 11 p.m., sources said.
2007-06-24 - Puthenkulam, India.
Puthenkulam is becoming a popular tourist destination as it is home to the largest number of captive elephants in Kerala. The road to this village is not less travelled. But, it is a beaten track travelled by majestic elephants along with human beings. Bhoothakulam Panchayat in Kollam district has the largest number of captive elephants in Kerala and most of them are fr om the Puthenkulam village in this Panchayat.
2007-06-21 - Calcutta, India.
Elephants have unearthed at least seven fresh human graves in eastern India, upsetting the nearby Muslim community and puzzling forestry officials. An elephant herd passed through a cluster of villages in the Bishnupur area last week, foraging for ripe fruit — and unearthing as many as seven recently dug graves, said Niranjan Ghosh, a forestry officer who visited the site.
2007-06-17 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A calf elephant from Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary, which was left behind in the city by a herd of wild elephants last month, is now back in the wild. The calf that was christened Kalinga as she had strayed into the Kalinga Studio complex of the Capital city was taken back to the sanctuary by a herd of four elephants on Saturday afternoon. The officials of the Chandaka Wildlife Division are now tracking the movement of the herd with which Kalinga was moving.
2007-06-17 - Punjab, India. Jaideep Sarin
The 'jumbo' wedding plans of many a groom in parts of Punjab now have a last minute hurdle with marriage palace owners at some places refusing to allow elephants inside their complexes. Owners of marriage palaces - where a majority of the weddings in Punjab take place given the vast covered and lawn area that they offer - say that allowing elephants, camels and chariots (raths) becomes a nuisance for them.
2007-06-16 - Dehra Dun, India.
Two elephants and a tiger cub died after falling from the hill top at Sauphuti area in Kalagarh and Jhirana range of the park on Friday. Forest officials said the death of wild animals was caused apparently due to incessant rains lashing the area for the past two days.
2007-06-16 - Namsai, India. Biswajyoti Das
Wild elephants are being illegally captured from the jungles of northeast India and forced to work in temples and give tourists rides, conservationists say. About 70 to 80 of Assam's 5,000 wild elephants are smuggled out of the northeastern state every year, conservationists say, despite India's ban on the trapping of wild elephants in 1986. A smuggler typically earns 15,000 to 30,000 rupees per elephant.
2007-06-09 - Thrissur, India.
What is the best way to make Assamese and Bihari jumbos ‘permanent residents’ of Kerala? Gift them, and keep mum about the money that has changed hands. The Forest and Wildlife Department has now tracked down two such cases and initiated action. Existing laws do not prevent transfer of elephants across state borders if permission has been granted by the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the states in question. However, sale of captive elephants is banned by law.
2007-06-08 - Amer, India. Lokendra Singh
The birth of an elephant baby in Amer, near Jaipur, has given cheer to a mahout's family and fellow villagers, most of whom believe the birth is a rare occurrence in Rajasthan in the last 100 years. Born this past week, to 25-year-old 'Lakkimala', the elephant calf has made its owner ecstatic. The newborn has been christened 'Muskan' (smile) by its owner Abdul Aziz. She weighed 70 kilograms at birth and is presently keeping well.
2007-06-07 - Pune, India. Pia Chandavarkar
Two elephants were taken into custody on Wednesday after they were found to be used illegally by two mahouts in the city. While a criminal case has been lodged under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) against the two mahouts, the elephants have now been taken to the Katraj Zoo for further investigation. The men were using the elephants for begging, which is banned under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act 1960
2007-06-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The man-animal conflict in Orissa has claimed 328 human and 90 elephant lives since 2000-01. During the past seven years, a total of 90 elephant poaching cases have been registered under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
2007-06-03 - Coimbatore, India.
To guide wild elephants, straying into human habitat, back to the forest, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department has brought two tamed elephants (Kumkis) to Periyathadagam region on the outskirts of the city. Forest officials said the two Kumkis - Kapil and Pallavan- would assist the forest staff to guide the wild elephant herd back to the forest. The two Kumkis, brought from Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, had been stationed at Periyathadagam region from yesterday.
2007-05-28 - New Delhi, India.
A wild elephant in India's eastern state of Orissa has been waylaying motorists who complain that the animal refuses to let their vehicles pass unless they give it food, a media report said Monday. Witnesses told the Hindustan Times daily that the elephant has been scouting for food on a highway in the northern Keonjhar district, forcing motorists to roll down windows and get out of their vehicles.
2007-05-25 - Ranchi, India.
He is two- and-a-half years old, loves milk and Lactogen, and has kept the officials at the Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park dancing around him. He is Ramu, the baby elephant rescued from the Seraikela forests and being looked after by the zoo authorities. The other elephants at the zoo, Samrat and Lakhi, too had been rescued from different jungles of the state. Samrat was also brought to the zoo at a young age and has grown to be an obedient young tusker.
2007-05-22 - Jaipur, India.
Elephants will have a new address in Jaipur, a village exclusively for them is being developed on the city's outskirts. The Amber Development Authority is going to begin construction of the boundary wall of the elephant village this week. Officials said the project would be completed within 18 months.
2007-05-17 - Coxs Bazar, India.
A Bangladesh safari park has called for urgent financial help from the government to feed nine elephants after their mahouts were detained by police last month after they used the pachyderms to illegally fell trees. Charges have been filed against the men and their principal employers. Keepers of the 900-hectare (2,250-acre) Dulhazara Safari Park said they lacked the food or money to feed the nine additional guests, which consume large amounts of paddy, rice and banana trees each day.
2007-05-12 - Madurai, India.
A recent survey has spotted 86 elephants along with 23 other species of wild animals in the Palani forest range, Dindigul District Forest officials has said. According to District Forest Officer Nihar Ranjan, five tuskers, 30 female elephants and 19 calves were identified. However, the gender of 32 pachyderms could not be identified as they were spotted at a long range, Ranjan told reporters at Dindigul last evening.
2007-05-11 - ANGUL, India.
The elephant population in Satkosia wild life sanctuary, a part of Mahanadi Elephant Reserve, has gone up within a span of two years, according to the just concluded census conducted in the area. According a reliable source, there are 145 elephants in the sanctuary area now as against 98 found in 2005 special census. The elephant population in 2002 in this part was 155.
2007-05-11 - Rayagada, India.
The man-elephant conflict continues to grow in Orissa. A herd of wild elephants that has been creating havoc in Rayagada and neighbouring Gajapati district during the past one month killed a youth in Gunupur area on Friday. The herd, which has been outside their Lakhari forest habitat in Gajapati, has so far killed five persons. The latest incident occurred at Turkinguda village under Gunupur sub-division when the elephants trampled to death 18-year-old Dilip Bauri.
2007-05-10 - Thrissur, India.
Three elephants ran amok during the annual festival of the Koodalmanikyam Temple at Irinkjalakuda, near here, on Wednesday. The incident, which occurred around 10 a.m., delayed 'Arat' rites. About 10 persons sustained minor injuries. The police said that an elephant became violent after a mahout allegedly prodded it with a lance.
2007-05-07 - Bhubaneshwar, India. Jajati Karan
A herd of elephants went on a rampage at a studio on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar last week. And when the dust settled, people were surprised to see a little baby elephant left behind. The one-year-old baby jumbo is injured, tired, and is missing her mother. She was one of the six elephants from the Chandaka elephant sanctuary in Orissa that entered the Kalinga film studio on Saturday. After some chaotic scenes, the five adult elephants retreated leaving this little one behind. Now, she has bee...
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.
2007-05-04 - West Bengal, India.
At least five elephants were killed by lightning in a West Bengal wildlife reserve, officials said Friday. The animals died Thursday in a tea estate under the Buxa Tiger Reserve area in the state's northern region. Their carcasses were found by tea garden workers on the bank of a river near the New Lands Tea Estate in Alipurduar area of Jalpaigur district, 700 km north of Kolkata.
2007-05-03 - Jamshedpur, India. ANUPAM RANA
Man-elephant conflict looks inevitable this summer with water sources in Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary not having adequate store. A senior forester posted in the sanctuary said elephants could face water crisis due to the poor volume of water available in these sources. “If the elephants do not get enough water during the scorching summer, then they would sneak into the nearby villages looking for water. Man-elephant conflict could be inevitable this summer,” he said.
2007-04-30 - TIRUCHI, India. Syed Muthahar Saqaf
The restive male elephant of Samayapuram Sri Mariamman Temple is likely to be shifted to the elephant camp at Top Slip. The authorities are reportedly awaiting a Government Order in this regard. The 18-year-old Mariappan has been portraying signs of `juvenile amuck' over the past few years, and the temple authorities recently sought the State Government's permission to hand it over to the Forest Department.
2007-04-30 - Dalma, India.
While the forest guards and the tribal hunters tried to outdo each other in Dalma wildlife sanctuary during Bishu Shikar, elephants emerged winners. The law-enforcers were out in full force to try and stop killing of animals. But tuskers did more damage to the revellers than the police. Several hunters gave up proceeding further after spotting tuskers with calves at the foothill.
2007-04-30 - EDAYURVAYAL, India.
More than 50 people here will move to alternative settlements to facilitate a six-km elephant corridor connecting Kerala's Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Brahmagiri reserve in neighbouring Karnataka. Nine acres in the Tirunelli-Kudrakote area, where the Gowda community has been living for four generations, will be surrendered by the people to the forest department.
2007-04-30 - New Delhi, India.
The Centre is planning to allow the sale of domesticated live elephants, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Following requests by Assam, Kerala, Bihar and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the government is considering making necessary amendments to the Widelife (Protection) Act, 1972, to relax the prohibition on the sale of domesticated live elephants, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply.
2007-04-30 - Kalpetta, India.
A Census on wild elephants will be undertaken in Nilgiris biosphere, considered the most favourable habitat of the pachyderms in Asia, from May 6-8. It would be under the joint auspices of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu Forest and Wildlife Departments. The census will be held simultaneously in the forest regions of Mudumala, Bandipur National Park, Nagarholla National Park and Wayanad Wildlife sanctuary.
2007-04-29 - Thrissur, India.
The Elephant Lovers' Association on Saturday urged the Chief Secretary to conduct an investigation into incidents of elephants turning violent at the Thrissur Pooram. In a memorandum, the association alleged that Thiruvambadi Unnikrishnan, an elephant that ran amok, showed signs of musth.
2007-04-28 - Gauhati, India.
A wild elephant killed a villager in India's remote northeast while another of the animals chased fishermen in a swamp, authorities said Saturday, as habitat destruction forces the elephants to seek food in populated areas. The elephant had been feeding near a bamboo grove when suddenly turned and attacked a villager returning home on a bicycle Friday night near Chakradeo, a village on the outskirts of Assam state's capital, Gauhati, said wildlife official S. Nath.
2007-04-27 - Thrissur, India.
Two elephants ran amok during Thrissur Pooram, a hugely popular elephant festival in Kerala. Tens of thousands of people had gathered in the temple city of Thrissur to witness the annual ''Pooram'' festival in which rival groups of 15 elephants were paraded amidst playing drums and mouth organs. However, all hell broke loose at around 4.30 pm (local time) when two elephants apparently became aggressive and ran about wildly, charging at frantic crowds that scattered to get out of their way.
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 - Guwahati, India.
He uproots bettlenut trees at one punt, razes down thatched hovels or even solid walls at ease and smashes exploding crackers and burning twigs with its feet. Ganesh, the robust 9-tonne tusker, has been a constant source of terror to the inhabitants in and around the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat district of upper Asom. The only succor to the people of this range is that Ganesh has never attacked a human directly.
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.
2007-04-25 - Thrissur, India.
After prolonged legal battles and uncertainty the famed Thrissur Pooram, the festival of festivals, will be staged here on April 27 and 28 with all traditional fervour and scintillating firework displays. In the next two days, Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, will be in the grip of ''Pooram fever'' and each and every person, irrespective of caste and religion, will work together for the smooth conduct of the festival.
2007-04-24 - Ranchi, India. Amitabh Srivastava & Namita Tewari
Jharkhand wildlife authorities are all set to begin a census of elephants in the wildlife sanctuaries across the State, starting May 1. The census is crucial for Jharkhand where the relations between elephants and humans have turned bellicose with almost 650 people trampled to death by elephants during the last six years. Humans have killed close to 67 elephants during the same period either by electrocution (caused by the illegal electric fencing) or shooting them with poison-tipped arrows or b...
2007-04-20 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A love story is brewing in the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo where age it seems is no bar for a very special jumbo combo. The impossible love affair between 18-year-old Rajkumar and his 76-year-old sweetheart Maheshwari is blossoming into elephantine proportions. Rajkumar was sent to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo by the Bombay High Court after it was found that his keepers in Mumbai could not manage him.
2007-04-20 - Lucknow, India.
It is not just regular morning walk that Jaimala is enjoying these days. The elephant is also hogging all the attention and care in city zoo. And in toe follows the partner, Sumit. "Jaimala is due to deliver in June and we are trying from now on to make everything easy for her. Sumit and Jaimala are both taken out for morning walk around 7 am for an hour. We want the pair to be in the best of health", said Eva Sharma, zoo director.
2007-04-19 - Guwahati, India.
Police confiscated a consignment of ivory from the cargo collection centre of Jet Airways near Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport today. Additional superintendent of police (city) Rajen Singh said elephant tusk weighing 1.8 kg was found inside a carton booked on a Calcutta-bound Jet Airways flight this morning. The accused were identified as Bikram Das and Mahabir Sharma. Sharma is the manager of Good Luck Courier Service while Das is an employee of Maruti Cargo Forwarder.
2007-04-17 - Ranchi, India.
Jharkhand forest officials on Tuesday began a probe into the mysterious death of an elephant in the Bero Forests. Though veterinary doctors are conducting forensic tests, forest officials have refused to reveal details till the post mortem report comes.
2007-04-16 - MANAS, India.
Six translocated elephant calves in the national park here are facing a threat, not from poachers but from blood-sucking parasites, prompting the authorities to drug them for temporary relief. Tabanus flies are found in abundance during this time of the year in Manas and there is hardly any place for the calves to wallow without getting bitten, said Bhaskar Choudhury of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), who is monitoring the elephant rehabilitation project.
2007-04-15 - BANGALORE, India.
An extensive census of elephants roaming the forests of South India will be carried out from May 7 to 9. According to Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Bangalore, Anur Reddy, forest officials of Karnataka along with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh will carry out a census of elephants for three days to estimate their numbers. Officials were carrying out a synchronised head-count of the pachyderms in view of their tendency to migrate across state borders.
2007-04-14 - TIRUPATI, India.
The news of a bomb disposal squad in the SV Zoological Park here on Thursday had mediapersons rushing to the zoo only to find the squad members running their metal detectors on an elephant. Zoo Curator Pillai said that TTD bomb disposable squad were helping them see if there were any metal fragments left in the injured shoulder of the pachyderm.
2007-04-13 - Trivandrum, India.
Rajkumar, the new elephant in the City Zoo, found himself after travelling for the last six days among a group of elephant lovers, which included Minister M A Baby, and a host of mediamen when he arrived on Thursday. The happiest of the lot was perhaps Maheswari, the female elephant at the zoo who has been living alone for nearly 25 years now. Maheswari was left alone after Stanley, the male elephant in the zoo, was sent back to the forest a quarter century ago.
2007-04-13 - Kochi, India.
The Kerala High Court on Thursday modified its earlier order prohibiting parading of elephants from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in festivals with respect to the Thrissur Pooram and allowed the parading of elephants during the above timings during festivals on certain conditions. The court modified its order as it felt that the Pooram was not just a temple festival but a festival of all the people in Thrissur district. Besides, the secretaries gave the assurance that the elephants would be properly fed an...
2007-04-12 - Madurai, India.
Project elephant, a Central government-sponsored scheme to protect elephants, was formally inaugurated in Tamil Nadu last evening when veterinary doctors of Mudhumalai wildlife sanctuary planted a microchip on an elephant at the Sri Meenakshi temple here. Other elephants in the city, including those of the Sri Koodal Azhagar temple, Tiruparankunram and Kallazhagar temples and elephants in private hands would have microchips fixed behind their left ears.
2007-04-12 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
District collectors have been directed to collect on an urgent basis all relevant information regarding elephants in each district. As part of this, collectors will soon issue notices to owners to present their elephants before the district magistrate and get it registered.
2007-04-12 - Tiruvannamali, India.
The Annamalayar temple elephant, Rukku, was diagnosed for minor eye ailment, keratitis, by experts from Madras Veterinary College (MVC). Dr C Ramani, ophthalmic surgeon and Dr Jaya Thangaraj, Wild Life Sciences professor, both from MVC, checked the animal on Tuesday, along with Dr Pon Koothan, Regional Joint Director (Animal Husbandry) and Dr VS Ramachandran, Assistant Director (Animal Husbandry), Tiruvannamalai.
2007-04-11 - Mumbai, India.
Posing next to the tagline "Beaten, Shackled, Abused- Elephants Don't Belong in Zoos," actor Rahul Khanna stars in a brand-new ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India,. In the ad Rahul Khanna is shown shackled in chains, with bruises painted onto his body. The ad has been shot by top photographer Colston Julian.
2007-04-11 - SILIGURI, India. Statesman News Service
A bull elephant was killed in a hit-by-a-train accident near the Atiabari Tea Estate level crossing in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (West division) early this morning. It was the seventh pachyderm to die in similar circumstances ever since the stretch between Siliguri and Alipurdar underwent gauge conversion four years ago.
2007-04-11 - Kerala, India.
Kerala High Court asks the state government to strictly enforce Captive Elephants Management and Maintenance Rules 2003. It has also directed that elephants should not be made to participate in religious processions between 11 am and 3 pm. The High Court direction comes in the wake of the Thrissur incident on Sunday in which a mahout was killed by elephant at a temple festival.
2007-04-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Forest Minister Benoy Viswom has convened a high-level meeting in the wake of an elephant goring to death a mahout during a local festival at Chettuva near Thrissur on Sunday, as a person was taken into custody for allegedly pelting stones at the elephant during a parade by 11 tuskers at the festival.
2007-04-11 - Chettuva, India.
The owner of a rogue elephant that ran amok on Sunday killing a mahout and injuring over a dozen other people in Keralas Thrissur district has defended the animals sudden change of behaviour. The tusker's owner believes provocation was the only reason his pet reacted in such a manner. Its actually a very tame elephant... even a child can go near it. But it got violent the other day because another elephant provoked it.
2007-04-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Stressed out elephants in Keralas Thrissur have become a cause for concern. An elephant ran amok and killed its mahout during an elephant show at a school near Thrissur district on Sunday, prompting state authorities to re-think where these elephants can now be used. While elephants have always been a part of temple traditions, authorities want their participation in political and social functions to be brought down. The elephant killed its mahout, TDM Unni and injured 24 persons during the show...
2007-04-10 - New Delhi, India. KUMARAN SATHASIVAM
The thorough research and compilation of data that has gone into the book makes it a valuable source of reference for all professionals involved in the study and upkeep of elephants. It has a lot of information on the fascinating animal for the general reader as well, though the writing style may slow down the reading. Foundation Books Pvt. Ltd., Cambridge House, 438/4, Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002.
2007-04-09 - THRISSUR, India.
Elephant Vinayan killed its first mahout Unni from Kuttippuram during the Chandanakkudam procession at Chettuva on Sunday afternoon. Police said that during the procession in which 13 tuskers were being paraded, elephant Vinayan attacked another tusker and ran amok. The frenzied tusker threw away Unni, while he was trying to bring the elephant under control. Unni died on the spot.
2007-04-08 - Pune, India.
An elephant, a rose-ringed parakeet, 38 doves and pigeons were rescued from the premises of Chokhi Daani, a resort run by the Goel Ganga group of builders on Pune-Ahmednagar road in a raid by forest officials and activists of People for Animals on Saturday night. The operation was co-ordinated by animal rights activist and former union minister Maneka Gandhi.
2007-04-08 - Cooch Behar, India.
Census of wild elephants in North Bengal will begin on April 23, a senior forest department official said here on Saturday. To protect the bio-diversity of the region, such exercises are crucial, the official said elaborating the need about the elephant census. In the 2005 census, the number of wild elephants was 350, against the number of 292 in 2000.
2007-04-07 - Mumbai, India.
Subsequent to the orders of the Bombay High Court, Rajkumar—the male elephant at Veermata Jijamata Prani Sanghralaya (Byculla Zoo), was dispatched on Saturday evening to the zoo in Thiruvanantapuram, Kerela. The eighteen-year-old elephant was in Byculla Zoo for the past eight years in forced celibacy, since the two female elephants the zoo houses are ageing.
2007-04-06 - PULPPALLI, India.
The Forest Department is providing treatment for a female wild elephant which collapsed in the farm of Neduthanath Anto, at Chamapara here. The animal is said to be seriously ill and was found on Tuesday morning. Veterinary expert Dr.Satheesh is treating the elephant which is about 60-years old.
2007-04-05 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Akhel Mathew
One of them, Avittathur Murali, recently collapsed in Kumbalam near Kochi, which animal lovers say was because the animal was not given proper healthcare and also because it was made to walk for long on tarred roads, leading to dehydration. In an encouraging development, forest minister Binoy Viswam has said the government would be forced to take action if elephant owners and mahouts do not follow the conditions laid down for utilising animals for processions and other functions.
2007-04-03 - Srinagar, India. Bashaarat Masood
Seven years after an archaeological excavation found a 50,000-year-old mammoth skull near Srinagar, the fossil with its large tusk has gone missing. The mammoth skull has been stolen, said Prof Abdul Majeed, who first found the fossil during an excavation in 2000. I was shocked when I visited the site today. Both the skull and the tusk are missing. I fear it has been smuggled out to be sold in the international market, he said.
2007-04-02 - Kollam, India.
The birth of a baby elephant in Kollam district of Kerala is creating waves. Kerala has about 800 captive elephants but new arrivals among elephants are few and far between. Less than 24 hours after its birth, the baby elephant has become the cynosure of all eyes. Mother Lakshmi however is possessive about her little one. So, barring the owner, Shaji, no one else is allowed to go anywhere near the baby. Shaji, whose family owns 17 elephants, is elated over the new member in his elephant yard.
2007-04-01 - KOLLAM, India.
An elephant on Saturday killed its second mahout at Sasthamcotta while it was engaged in removing timber. Podimon, 35, of Modioozhathil, Kidangannoor, Vallana, Aranmula, is the deceased. The incident took place on Saturday afternoon when the tusker was brought to remove timber for a private person near the Muthupilakkad Parthasaradhi temple near Sasthancotta.
2007-04-01 - Mumbai, India. Nitya Kaushik
Only two tuskers in the city have been digitally tagged, almost six months after the state forest department, Thane division, launched its grand plan to implant elephants with microchips in an effort to stop unlicenced entry. Their lackadaisical approach has prompted the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) to take matters into their hands.
2007-03-31 - Madurai, India.
The temple elephant, ailing for the past few days and undergoing treatment here, died today despite efforts of the doctors to save it. The elephant, Angayarkanni, belongs to the Sri Meenakshi Amman temple. Veterinary doctors, who treated the 41-year-old elephant for the past three days, said they did their best to save the elephant which suffered from a series of problems including liver and kidney failure, chronic osteo arthritis, and indigestion.
2007-03-31 - KOCHI, India. K.S. Sudhi
Kerala, the home to most number of captive elephants, is fast becoming their torture ground as well. Parading the animals in musth, stretching their working hours beyond reasonable limits, provocation by public and cruelty by mahouts are driving the elephants to madness. K.C. Panicker, secretary of the Elephant Welfare Association, said the incidents of elephants running wild could be controlled if the elephants in musth were not paraded.
2007-03-29 - New Delhi, India. Aman Sharma
It is double windfall for elephant-owners in the Capital. With Bahaujan Samaj Party (BSP) fighting the Delhi MCD elections and the Assembly elections in UP, slated to start in another 10 days, BSP candidates have made a beeline for hiring elephants, their party symbol, as the crowd-puller during campaign. Elephant owners say they are booked for the entire next month and the charges for letting out elephants for election purpose has risen to as much as Rs 10,000 per day.
2007-03-27 - NEW DELHI, India.
Assam and Kerala, besides other states, have asked the Centre to help them take care of a jumbo-sized problem. They want the Union ministry of environment and forests to legalise and simplify rules for the sale of almost 3,500 captive elephants in the country. This would bring above board the illegal trade of elephants, which is taking a toll on domestic elephants as well as their owners. At present the transfer of elephants is governed by a complicated and cumbersome set of rules that has pushe...
2007-03-25 - New Delhi, India. Sushmita Choudhury
Pachyderm lover-hunter-conservationist Dinesh Choudhury's life comes a full circle. A hunter who is a staunch conservationist. Meet Dinesh Choudhury, elephant hunter. Yes, you read right. Choudhury is exactly that. But before you start calling up animal rights activists, let’s make it clear that this man is perfectly legal. He is actually a licensed professional hunter, one of the last few ones in the country. He is the man the government turns to when a rogue elephant has to be stopped.
2007-03-24 - Dharmapuri, India.
A female elephant died on the banks of Chinnar river in Pennagaram forests on Friday, apparently because of old age, forest department officials said. The elephant was found in distress by residents of Pannappatti village, about 43 km from here, they said. The elephant died in the afternoon. It was aged between 55 to 60 years, they said. Villagers performed poojas for the dead elephant.
2007-03-22 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
A team of officials from the city zoo will leave for Mumbai next week to bring over a male elephant. Over the next few months, the zoo is expected to get a variety of animals from different zoos across the country. Zoo superintendent S. Abu said these animals might not be brought at one go but rather in phases. The paperwork relating to the elephant and the giraffe are in the final stages. Talks are on for the rest of the animals.
2007-03-22 - Hyderabad, India.
As the mercury starts soaring hinting a long summer ahead, the Nehru Zoological Park has taken up initiatives to provide some respite for its inmates from searing heat. The elephants which recently acquired a separate home, where they retire during nights and also hide from the sun during day time, have been provided with facilities for a regular bath.
2007-03-21 - PARALAKHEMUNDI, India.
A herd of elephants from the adjoining Lakhari forest reservoirs in the Mohona block destroyed the boundary wall of Ekalabya School at Chandragiri yesterday night. Fifty students sleeping in the school had a miraculous escape. The entry of the elephants to the town was noticed only today morning.
2007-03-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
Keralas temple festivals may no more see elephants, with their angry owners protesting against criminal cases the police slap on them whenever the animals run amok. The Kerala Elephant Owners Association has decided that with no proper set of rules to decide what needs to be done when elephants run amok, we will not send any elephants to take part in temple festivals, P Sasi Kumar, joint secretary of the group, said.
2007-03-19 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The rules for proper upkeep of captive elephants in Kerala have set the retirement age for jumbos at 65, according to State Forest Minister Binoy Viswam. The quantum of food for jumbos was prescribed and the rules also insist that elephants should not be marched on tarred roads during the summer days, the maximum distance to be covered a day is 30 km, they should be rested when in 'musth', use of heavy and sharp shackles should be avoided and they should be kept at a safe distance from fireworks...
2007-03-18 - COIMBATORE, India.
The two tamed elephants or kumkis Nanjan (48) and Kalim (38) accompanied by six mahouts reached a settlement near Kovai Kuttralam from Top Slip in Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary on Thursday. The two kumkis will push the elephant herd, which has been entering human habitations in Perur for the last five years to deep inside the forests. The kumkis were brought following the orders of Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle P C Tyagi.
2007-03-14 - Bhadrak, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled to death at least two middle-aged men and injured six people after storming a village in Orissa's Bhadrak district Wednesday, official said. The elephants entered Kandaba village from the nearby Hadagada forest and started destroying orchards, local range officer Samir Sahoo said. The villagers faced the wrath of the elephants after trying to drive them out, he added.
2007-03-14 - NEELESWARAM, India.
The district administration will erect 5-km long solar fencing in Athiyadukam in East Eleri grama panchayat to contain marauding wild elephants. P Karunakaran MP informed that Rs 2.84 lakh will be sanctioned from his MP fund for the fencing. A herd of elephants destroyed crops worth Rs 2.36 lakh in the area on Saturday. The villagers are in panic as they fear another raid is imminent. The elephant herds are there in the neighbouring areas and they will descend on the village any time, villagers ...
2007-03-14 - Garo Hills, India.
FOUR wild elephants drunk on beer were electrocuted when they stumbled into a power pole and brought it down on top of themselves in northeast India. A herd of up to 25 elephants rampaged in a remote area in the West Garo Hills district earlier this week, forcing villagers to run for cover and leave their freshly brewed beverage behind, BBC News online reported. After drinking the village dry, the elephants ran into a power pole, bringing it down. Their trunks bore the brunt of the shock from th...
2007-03-08 - New Delhi, India. Tenzing Lamsang
An 11-year-old elephant, rescued last year from Kaithal in Haryana, died at the Delhi Zoo today a few hours after doctors had decided to put down the animal. The elephant was suffering from spastic paralysis on his forelegs and fluid in his lower jaws had caused swelling, said Dr S. Bahadur, retired NDMC vet. The Zoo decided in the afternoon to euthanise the elephant but by 4.30 pm the elephant expired.
2007-03-07 - Chennai, India.
The Tamil Nadu government Wednesday said it would acquire 398 acres of private land and create an elephant corridor through Coimbatore and Nilgiri districts. Speaking at the Biodiversity Conservation conference organised by the forest department, State Forest Minister N. Selvaraj said the corridor would be created this year. Expressing concern over the increasing human-animal conflict, the minister said: "Death of human beings and injury to humans due to wild animal attacks is a source of major ...
2007-03-06 - Kheonjhar, India.
Elephants in Orissas Kheonjhar district have been displaced from forests bringing them into direct conflict with the tribes and villagers. So far over 60 people have been killed and over 200 elephants have vanished from the official census lists. A few months ago irate villagers killed nine elephants. Starving elephant herds raid the crops escalating tension in the district. With rampant mining in the district destroying traditional elephant migratory routes and natural food sources they...
2007-03-05 - Kerala, India. T.K. Devasia, Khaleej Times Online
THE Malayalees age-old spiritual bond with elephants has come under test with the state witnessing a sudden spurt in elephant attacks. The animal has gored 15 people to death in the last two months. The latest victim is Babu (45), who was stamped by an elephant called Peroorkavu Sivan, during a temple festival at Quilon district on Thursday. Reports said Sivan, who was being taken to the temple along with several other elephants, turned violent following constant pricking by the mahout.
2007-03-04 - Jamshedpur, India.
The depletion of green cover in state forests has once again spurred elephants attack several Seraikela-Kharsawan villages for foodgrain last night. A villager was trampled to death by a wild elephant near Beritoli in Gumla district. Koka Munda, 35, was going on foot to his in-laws’ house at Maladone from his Kanarva-Bantatoli village on Saturday evening when he was trampled to death by the elephant, according to forest department sources. While three villagers were injured in the raid, the he...
2007-03-02 - Guruvayur, India.
Crowds in hundreds cheered over two dozen elephants that took part in the hugely popular elephant race in Guruvayur town in Kerala. Nearly 30 elephants took part in the annual kilometer-long race running through the thoroughfares of the tiny town and up to the revered temple. To participate in the coveted race, lots are drawn, and only a lucky few elephants get to participate.
2007-03-02 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The man-animal conflict is acquiring a grave dimension in Kerala with at least 15 people dying in retaliatory violence by elephants since December 30. In all, 46 people (41 mahouts and five others) were killed by captive elephants in the State in 2006. The latest was the death of an innocent onlooker at a temple festival in the southern district of Kollam when a group of elephants, being herded from temple to the other, panicked and ran amuck after a mahout struck one of the animals with a sharp...
2007-03-01 - Thrissur, India. Naveen Nair
It really is a mammoth race. The aanayottam or elephant race at the Guruvayoor temple in Kerala is an annual event that marks the beginning of the 10-day-long temple festival. Says Guruvayur temple administrator, Ratheesh, There is a myth behind this race. Once when Guruvayoor temple did not have any elephants it is said that elephants from the adjoining temple raced to Guruvayoor to get the idol on their heads.
2007-02-26 - Assam, India. International Fund for Animal Welfare
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and its partner, WTI (Wildlife Trust of India) today announced that six elephant calves have been successfully released to the wild in Manas National Park. The elephants, hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC)—were transported 450 kilometers from Indias Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park. In Manas the elephants will be reintegrated into a wild herd once they are familiarized with the area. It is the...
2007-02-25 - BARIPADA, India.
Mayurbhanj district is one of the worst-hit areas as far as elephant menace is concerned and local people are distressed over the indifference shown by the government to their problem. Local MLA Mr Sambhunath Nayak, along with the people of six grama panchayats under the Josipur block, threatened to launch a dharna in front of the range office of Simlipal Tiger Reserver in Josipur. Mayurbhanj is the second worst-affected district after Keonjhar as far as elephant menace is concerned, al...
2007-02-24 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A joint operation by the Forest Department and Crime Branch of Orissa police led to arrest of three persons and seizure of over 14 kg of ivory in Orissa on Saturday made it clear that the State was a soft target of poachers. One kg of ivory could fetch up to Rs 40 000 in international market. Orissa is home to more than 1800 elephants that were found in the forests of Satkosia, Nayagarh, Chandaka, Similipal, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Rairakhol and Sambalpur.
2007-02-24 - Guwahati, India.
Six elephant calves, rescued from different parts of Assam and raised in an animal farm in the Kaziranga National park, were Saturday relocated to a wildlife sanctuary in the first such conservation exercise undertaken by India. 'The elephants will be reintegrated to a wild herd after they are familiarised to the area. This will be the first exercise in India after Sri Lanka and Kenya too have successfully released hand-raised elephants into the wild,' a WTI statement said.
Elephants are known for their ability to work hard. But, when they have no work they are out to beg to appease their belly. According to Sahara Samay report, as cutting of trees has been banned in Assam, elephants which take logs of wood from one place to another have become jobless. Sujata Chaudhary, owner of one of the elephants, told the channel that they are compelled to go out to beg as they have no work to do. This is irony that this useful animal has suddenly turned a white elephant.
2007-02-24 - Ranchi, India. ARUN KUMAR THAKUR
Meet Tulsi Mahto, the head of the RIMS forensic department. Mahto also discovered that there had been an increase in deaths caused by wild elephants after the inception of the state. In 1999, the wild elephants had killed five persons, but 16 persons were killed by tuskers in 2002. Everyone, including forest department officials and rural folks, need to realise that the continued depletion of habitat for elephants because of rampant felling of trees in forest areas will lead to more and more ele...
2007-02-23 - New Delhi, India.
We've all heard of orphanages for children, but one for elephants is rather hard to believe. The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has set up a first-of-its-kind orphanage centre for elephants inside the Manas National Park in Assam. The Assam Elephant Orphanage Centre, which is to be inaugurated on Saturday, was established in wake of the increasing number of animals, particularly elephants, becoming orphan in the state.
2007-02-22 - New Delhi, India.
In the first-ever recorded case in India, six hand-reared elephants will be rehabilitated in the wild on Friday, in a bid to check the plummeting numbers of the animal in the North-East. The elephants, which have been rescued from various parts of Assam and reared at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation in Kaziranga National Park, will be tranquillised and taken on a 450 km overnight drive to Manas National Park.
2007-02-21 - Raipur, India. Indo-Asian News Service
As many as 27 people have been killed by wild elephants in Chhattisgarh since April 2005, which includes 12 deaths this year, according to state Forest and Revenue Minister Brijmohan Agrawal. All the deaths were reported from three northern districts - Raigarh, Surguja and Jashpur - that have most of their area under forest cover
2007-02-16 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Finally, a frustrated Vinay Shankar had to ram into a lorry larger and heavier than himself and break his own head in front of the Sankarankulangara temple in Thrissur on Wednesday to make humans aware of the kind of atrocities he and his tribe are being subjected to in the name of festivals. Says elephant expert Dr Jacob Cheeran: “They transport elephants in trucks flouting all established norms. The elephant brokers are too eager to reach them as early as possible to as many festival venues ...
2007-02-16 - KOZHIKODE, India.
This time it was the turn of people of Cheliya in Chengottukavu panchayat near Koyilandy to get terrorised by ‘elephants on run’. Vikhnaraj, the tusker which ran amok, created panic in the area for almost an hour on Thursday morning before getting tranquillised by Dr K C Panicker, an expert in tranquillising raging elephants. The pachyderm had started showing symptoms of musth on Wednesday. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no loss of property was reported. The elephant, owned by K P Raveendr...
2007-02-15 - Guwahati, India.
An ailing female elephant abandoned by her herd died near Amchang wildlife sanctuary at Sonapur on the fringes of Guwahati, forest department sources here today said. The forest officials, along with a veterinary surgeon, rushed to the site but despite their best efforts, the elephant died yesterday, sources said. Guwahati wildlife division sources said the elephant was probably sick for quite a while, prompting her herd to abandon her. On Monday, the animal was spotted by villagers near Amchang...
2007-02-15 - THRISSUR, India.
An elephant that ran amok on Wednesday created tension for more than three hours in the Poonkunnam area until it was tranquillised. Bastian Vinay Shankar, the elephant owned by a timber company, was brought to Poonkunnam on Monday night after a festival in Kootikavu temple. It was chained at the ground owned by the Sankarankulangara temple along with six other elephants.Vinay Shankar dislodged his mahout and injured him while it was being taken for a bath.
2007-02-13 - Mangalore, India. Dayanand Kukkaje Daijiworld Media Network
Joining this visitor was yet another quadruped was an elephant calf, found deserted by it mother in the Charmadi Ghat region, the Nisargadhama officials were approached by the locals. The calf has been brought to the biological park and is now well cared. According to the officials of the Nisargadhama, the calf is below one month of age and has average survival chances.
2007-02-13 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Malayali’s near-spiritual bond with elephants has deteriorated into a primitive game of survival as deadly and unpredictable as bull-fighting. In a span of just 40 days, from December 31 to February 10, elephants have gored or stomped 13 people to death in various parts of the state. The last four deaths took place in just three days. Even in 2004, said to be the bloodiest, the toll was only seven for the entire festival season – December to May.
2007-02-11 - Ranchi, India.
Farmers in Jharkhand are now keeping in mind the tastes of elephants while sowing crops to prevent the tuskers from rampaging their fields and killing people. In the last few years, the farmers have come to know the likes and dislikes of elephants that regularly enter the villages, damage standing crops and kill people too. They now prefer not to sow rabi: crops.
2007-02-11 - Ranchi, India. AMIT GUPTA
Elephants destroy crops and even trample human beings. But when an elephant got trapped in a well in the village, about 47 km from the state capital, after the clock struck 12 last night, the villagers could not but rescue it. The wild elephant calf, not more than a month old, fell into the well of one Maharaj Singh of Jamni village beside Bero forest between 1 am and 2 am. Before the little elephant fell into the well, a herd of six elephants caused havoc in the nearby villages destroying crops...
2007-02-10 - Chennai, India.
Irked by a two wheeler rider constantly sounding the horn of his vehicle, a temple elephant lifted the man and flung him to the ground, seriously injuring him, at Marthandam near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district, police said. Reports from Nagercoil said the youth was riding the motorcycle behind the elephant which was taking part in a procession as part of the Mariamman temple festival in Marthandam town. He sounded his horn continuously, in a bid to get past the elephant and the crowd. Irritat...
2007-02-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. G. Anand
Illegal ivory trade seems to be flourishing secretly in the city. On January 17 this year, the Forest Department seized a pair of elephant tusks from the house of a suspected ivory dealer at Eenchakkal. The tusks, weighing 2.2 kg, were extracted from a young male elephant shot dead by poachers in the Adimali Forest Range recently.
2007-02-09 - Mayapur, India. Bhakti Caru Swami, Vrindavan Lila Dasi, HRIMATI Mataji, Gandharvika Devi Dasi, Vrindavan Lila Dasi,
I remember when Gulab was brought to Mayapur in early eighties. Sundar-kali, the grown up female elephant, was already there in Mayapur and it was felt that she needed a companion. So Bhavananda Prabhu asked Radhajivan to arrange for another elephant, and he suggested that this one should be a baby. Radhajivan went to a big animal fare in Uttar Pradesh and brought Gulab. She was just a little baby at that time, may be just about a few months old.
2007-02-08 - Mysore, India. RADHA H.S.
We were headed for the Dubbare Elephant Camp by the Cauvery, situated two hours from Mysore city. We went across the river, sparkling and beautiful, the trees on the banks, in bloom, adding colour to the already beautiful scene. And on the far side were the elephants in the water. The mahout began to scrub the elephant. He called out to us to `give Indra a good scrub'. He climbed onto the elephant's folded leg and scrubbed the top of his head and even behind the ears!
2007-02-08 - Madurai, India.
The Forest Department has set up watch towers and camps at different places to prevent hunting of elephants in Meghamalai Sanctuary, officials said here today. The measures were taken following complaints about elephants being poached in the forest area spread over 55,000 hectare, official sources said here today. According to estimates, there were 172 elephants, including four tuskers, 78 female elephants and 14 calves, in the area, they said.
2007-02-06 - Amer Fort, India. Lokendra Singh
The hugely popular elephant rides at a centuries-old Amer Fort in Rajasthan are turning into a prime foreign exchange earner for the state. At a hefty US 12.5 per dollar ride according to local standards, it's actually too little a price to pay for something so uniquely Indian. At least, hoards of foreign tourists, who arrive at the Amer Fort, seem to think so.
2007-02-05 - DHARMAPURI, India.
The Forest Department has asked people residing in villages adjoining forests in the district to protect themselves from elephants without injuring them. Elephants often stray into nearby villages in search of food and water frequently. To keep them away, the villagers spend sleepless nights with fire torches and crackers. According to sources, a herd of elephants strayed into the villages in Pennagaram, Neruppur, Pannanppatti, Chinnappanallur and Podupatti in search of water.
2007-02-04 - Jamshedpur, India.
The depletion of green cover in state forests has once again spurred elephants attack several Seraikela-Kharsawan villages for foodgrain last night. While three villagers were injured in the raid, the herd also damaged many houses on their way to have crops, particularly paddy, piled up in Kochidih, Bansa and Dumkadih villages under Chandil block. The condition of the injured villagers undergoing treatment at Chandil hospital is reported to be stable.
2007-01-24 - Mananthavady, India.
Four people were sentenced to three years Rigorous Imprisonment and fines of Rs. 10,000 each for poaching an elephant in Kerala. Five others were given three years Simple Imprisonment and fined Rs. 10,000 each, while one person was given the benefit of doubt and let off.
2007-01-24 - BANGALORE, India.
Even after the death of brigand Veerappan, a few members of his erstwhile gang are still operating in M.M. Hills and surrounding jungles in Kollegal taluk of Chamarajnagar district. In the last one month, at least three male elephants were shot dead in Ponnachi Reserve Forest area in M.M. Hills. Alarmed by the death of the elephants, the staff of CID Forest Cell and Forest Department camped in M.M. Hills for over a fortnight and arrested seven people belonging to two gangs on charges of killing ...
2007-01-23 - Trissur, India.
Around 20 elephant experts from South and Southeast Asia would be given a two-week training on elephant management here in September. The free training programme, the first of its kind in India, is being organised by the Bangalore-based Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre. "There will be around 20 experts from countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand besides India," Jacob Cheeran, a veteran elephant expert, told IANS.
2007-01-23 - Karimganj, India. SANTANU GHOSH
Alarmed by the death a 50-year-old woman in another raid by a herd of wild elephants on Friday night, the district administration has asked villagers to avoid the stretch between Sunagiri and Medli tea estate under Patherkandi block after dusk. The rampaging herd uses the corridor near Piplagool village to stray into tea gardens and human habitation in search of food, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
2007-01-20 - TIRUVANNAMALAI, India.
Eight elephants, including two calves, noticed in the forests near Padavedu in the district over the last week, have damaged crops and caused flutter in the nearby villages. According to sources, elephants from the forests in Andhra Pradesh, which occasionally visit the forests in the Jawadu Hills and its adjoining areas, are now roaming in the Malayalam reserve forest area. Recently, the farmers in Shenbagathoppu, Ramanathapuram and Perumalpettai areas were complaining about these elephants cau...
2007-01-17 - Koraput, India. KalingaTimes
Two children of a family were trampled to death by wild elephants in Kusumbhatta village of Orissa's Koraput district on Monday night sending shockwaves among the people in the region. Eight-year-old Kaushalya Santa and her brother Gupta Santa (7) died when elephants crushed near their house. This is the second such incident in Kusumbhatta. A woman of the village was killed by wild elephants in a similar fashion on January 5.
2007-01-17 - Coimbatore, India.
It was a different experience for elephants at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Pollachi as an unusual ritual was organised for them as part of the Pongal festival. As farmers across the state celebrated Mattu Pongal yesterday when poojas were performed for the cattle, Yanai (elephant) Pongal was organised at the sanctuary with the pachyderms being dressed up and adored.
2007-01-16 - MADIKERI, India.
Though Kodagu district has been bearing the brunt of wild elephant menace from Kutta to Shanivarashanthe, the government is paying scant attention to solve the problem. Recently, wild elephants destroyed five acres of paddy cultivation belonging to two people in Mekoor near Polibetta. Elephants descending from the forest have killed more than 20 and injured 30 people since 1999.
2007-01-15 - Jaipur, India.
Enthused by the good response from online booking of wildlife safari in Ranthambore national park, the Rajasthan government plans to have a similar facility for elephant rides at the famous Amber Fort here. The tourism department is preparing a record of all the 110 elephants to be used for riding. The database involves the name of elephants, mahouts and their rotation number.
2007-01-15 - Thrissur, India.
The elephant museum coming up at Konni in Pathanamthitta district has been designed as an entertainment-cum-information facility featuring pictures, clippings, books and information about Indian elephants and their use in Kerala's cultural context, Forest Range Officer of the district Jayakumar Sharma said.
2007-01-15 - MYSORE, India.
In a joint operation, police and forest officials have arrested four persons, in connection with two elephant poaching cases on Male Mahadeshwara Hills recently. They have recovered a single barrel gun, four bullets and 200 gm of gun powder. The arrested are Santhre Madaiah, Belulli Madaiah and Kumara, residents of Ramagondanahalli and Karana Belligondana Halli, near Poonachi village on Mahadeshwara Hills.
2007-01-12 - Udhagamandalam, India.
The popular elephant ride for tourists was resumed today after a two-and-half-year gap at the famous Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, near here. Nilgiris district collector Santhosh K. Mishra inaugurated the elephant ride early this morning at Theppakkadu camp in the vicinity of the sanctuary. A British couple, who had the honour of taking the inaugural ride today, said they were very happy with the sojourn.
2007-01-12 - Jamshedpur, India. ANUPAM RANA
The district forest wing seems to have taken up the task to improve the conditions at the Dalma elephant sanctuary. For, the wing has recommended to the state forest and environment ministry to invite wildlife experts to give suggestions to improve the issues, concerning elephant corridors, pollution and habitant.
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.
2007-01-07 - Calcutta, India. Karimganj
It is an odd dilemma for forest officials of the district — torn as they are between the need to save human life and crops from marauding elephants and risking a decline in pachyderm population, as herds of them flee into neighbouring Bangladesh when chased away from the border district. The dilemma only deepens every winter.
2007-01-07 - Andaman Islands, India. BEN CLERKIN, Sunday Herald Sun
ON land, he lumbers through the dust, bowed by the burden of his 3.5-tonne bulk. But in the ocean Rajan is an elephant transformed: the cumbersome trundler becomes a creature of speed and elegance. The pictures were shot by wildlife photographer Steve Bloom in the Andaman Islands and appear in his new book, Elephant!
2007-01-06 - Guwahati, India.
Elephants participate in an elephant festival at the Kaziranga National Park, about 235 km (146 miles) east from Guwahati, the main city of India's north-east state of Assam, January 5, 2007. The festival is organised every year in January and February to create awareness among the people about the habits of the animal so that they can live together in peace.
2007-01-05 - New Delhi, India.
Members of Parliament from Assam have sought the relaxation of Wildlife (Protection) Act, urging Delhi to allow elephant capture. The appeal was issued to-day in a memorandum from 20 MPs of the Northeast to minister of state for environment and forests Namo N. Meena. The memo urged the ministry to “specifically” allow Assam to capture wild elephants for domesticating th-em. The Indian elephant has been listed in Schedule I (the most protected species) since 1977
2007-01-05 - Dergaon, India.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi inaugurated the fifth Kaziranga Elephant Festival today. At the function, a pledge was taken to protect Kaziranga National Park’s ecosystem. During his speech at the inaugural function at Mihimukh at Kohora, Gogoi also observed that human-elephant conflicts can be reduced through public awareness. Gogoi said festivals like these, which entail massive participation of people, can go a long way in reducing the human-elephant conflict.
2006-12-28 - Dhenkanal, India.
A wild elephant looking for food Thursday killed a villager in a forest in Orissa, an official said. The elephant attacked Udayanath Behera, 44, a resident of Sartentulia village in Dhenkanal district, in the forest where he had gone to collect firewood, district forest officer M.M. Panigrahi told IANS.
2006-12-26 - JAIPUR, India.
Riding an elephant to the top of the amber fort in India's desert state city Jaipur is a must-do tourist attraction, but city living is not ideal for the animals. Now domesticated, they work the tourist trade in a city where, in summer, temperatures peak at around 40 degrees Celsius. In the past, their treatment has been harsh, but UK-based charity Elephant Family has been on a mission to teach owners and riders to treat the elephants better. Giving both financial aid and education to improve co...
2006-12-25 - Calcutta, India. Mary K. Brunskill
A wild elephant killed three people by lifting them with its trunk one by one and throwing them on the ground in a forest range in eastern India on Sunday, police said. The three died on the spot and 10 others were wounded. The elephant was looking for food when it encountered the three villagers in the Purlia district.
2006-12-25 - Jalpaiguri, India.
After four elephants of West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district were killed on being hit by the train, railway trains drivers in the district worshiped an elephant. Forest department sources say the train drivers worshipped the elephant so that they could seek divine help in preventing any further elephant deaths.
2006-12-24 - Baikunthapur, India.
Forest officials in West Bengal on Sunday expressed concern over the rising number of elephant deaths in the region. On Saturday, an elephant's body was found in the Baikunthapur forest of the Jalpaiguri district. The pachyderm is believed to have died under mysterious circumstances.
2006-12-24 - Purulia, India.
Three men were dashed to death by a rogue elephant at Jhalda area in West Bengal's Purulia district today. Police said the incident occurred when villagers suddenly heard the elephant's movement in the area and rushed to investigate. The elephant killed a man from Pawara village and two from Kulma village in Jhalda's Begunkodor area.
2006-12-23 - Agartala, India. Pinaki Das
Forest officials in Tripura are concerned over the increase in elephant poaching cases. In one such case, five elephant tusks weighing over five kilograms were recovered from three poachers. Acting on a tip off, Agartala Police set a trap and nabbed the poachers who were attempting to smuggle the tusks to Bangladesh.
2006-12-22 - Guwahati, India.
Conservationists in Asom have lashed out at forest officials for shooting dead an elephant, mistaking it to be a killer. The forest officials resorted to the extreme step after an elephant named 'Osama bin Laden' ran amok, killing 27 people. However, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials said 'Osama' was not the actual one who created the havoc, but a look-a-like.
2006-12-21 - JAIPUR, India. Prakash Bhandari
In a landmark judgment, the Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan High Court has treated an elephant as a "living being at par with a human being" and ordered payment of Rs 5,99,440 as compensation to the owner of the animal which died in a road accident near the historic Amber palace here in 1988.
2006-12-20 - Calcutta, India. Soumen Dey
The news item “Death warrant out for rogue Laden” in The Telegraph northeast dated December 15, 2006, said “it should take one single bullet to fell a rogue”. So much ado over a “rogue” elephant! The statement itself sounded like a royal proclamation. As did the recent proclamation by the government to kill the rogue elephant that was, according to media reports, on a rampage in Sonitpur East forest division. (The elephant was killed on December 16).
2006-12-19 - DHENKANAL, India. Statesman News Service
Thousands of officials, students and local peoplegathered today to watch the ‘soil bathe’ of eighteen elephants including two tuskers near Shyamcharanpur in the municipality area. The sight captivated the audience from 6 am to 6 pm. As evening approached the gathered crowd was beyond the control of the forest officials. The crowd affected the traffic on the way to Shyamcharanpur. According to forest officials the elephants strayed into the municipality areas from Saptasajya and Megha ...
2006-12-19 - Guwahati, India. Indo Asian News Service
A herd of about 100 wild elephants Tuesday went on a rampage in a town in the northeastern state of Assam, seriously injuring two people and damaging many houses and shops. A police spokesman said the elephant herd went berserk in the town of Hojai in Nagaon district, about 180 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati. The herd consisting of about 100 elephants marched through the main streets and alleys and damaged whatever came in their way - from houses to roadside shops- and also injured two...
2006-12-18 - DHARMAPURI, India.
A herd of 14 elephants damaged the crops in Podupatti and surrounding villages in Pennagaram taluk on Friday night. According to farmers of Podupatti, the elephant herd has been damaging crops in the past three days during night. About seven acres of cultivated ragi, jowar and a few paddy crops were damaged, they said. They added that several memoranda had been submitted to the forest officials of the range concerned in this regard.
2006-12-17 - DAMAK, India.
Wild elephants have destroyed properties of three houses at Shantinagar-3 of Jhapa district. Five elephants synchronously entered Jhapa from Luhagadh of West Bengal of India Friday morning devoured the food grains and destroyed other properties worth millions of rupees at the houses of local Narad Poudel, Toyanath Bista and Ram Bahadur Gauli.
2006-12-17 - GAUHATI, India.
A killer elephant named after Usama bin Laden by fearful villagers was killed by sharpshooters, officials said Sunday. The animal was blamed for 14 deaths in the northeastern state of Assam. "A licensed shooter shot and killed the 10-foot tall bull near the Behali forest reserve in northern Assam," said wildlife warden Chandan Bora.
2006-12-14 - Jaipur, India.
The Jaipur police have seized 46 kg of ivory, worth more than Rs one crore in the international market, from ivory traders in the city. The tusks were probably obtained in Arunachal Pradesh from poachers and brought to the city. Jaipur is one of the biggest centres for carving ivory in the country, from where carved products are usually smuggled to countries like Japan, China.
2006-12-13 - New Delhi, India.
A Sri Lankan firm which transforms elephant dung into beautiful, eco-friendly paper, has won a major global competition which rewards businesses and projects that put something back into their communities. ‘Maximus’, based in Kegalle at the foothills of Sri Lanka’s central mountainous region, beat more than 800 other projects from 120 countries to win World Challenge 2006 and a US$20,000 grant from Shell.
2006-12-12 - Kovalam, India.
Tourists in India were invited to a rather strange wedding when two elephants became partners for life. Workers at a hotel in Kerala state organised the ceremony, which saw 12-year-old Raju marry his ten-year-old bride Rani. Both animals were dressed up for the occasion, with traditional golden headdresses, while music was played during the hour-long ceremony before a fireworks display signalled that the marriage had been finalised.
2006-12-12 - New Delhi, India.
Funds for conservation and checking poaching of tigers and several other wild animals have been increased this year, whereas for elephants the allocation has been slashed, according to Union Environment and Forests Ministry. The protection of pachyderms under project elephant received a jolt as its funding decreased from Rs 13.34 crore last year to Rs 11.51 crore this year, down by 13.7 per cent. Significantly, demands for funds from Assam for the project elephant has dropped from Rs 1.30 crore ...
2006-12-07 - Guwahati, India.
Animal lovers are queuing up to get a glimpse of an injured baby elephant in Asom. Two-year-old, Rinki, who was hit by a bus, was brought to the Asom Veterinary College here by his owner for treatment.Veterinary officials said the elephant calf is suffering from a spinal chord fracture. The owner of the elephant, who has already spent 40,000 rupees, is now looking for financial support for the treatment.
2006-12-02 - PERNEM, India. HERALD CORRESPONDENT
A herd of elephants went on a rampage and trampled a man to death at Khubarwadi-Pavshi near Goa on Thursday afternoon, besides destroying property and terrifying residents in the area. According to reports, a herd of tuskers strayed in Pavshi village in Kudal-Maharashtra, about 30 kms from Goa’s border.
2006-12-00 - Jaipur, India. Department of Dravyaguna, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur
Ayurvĕda, the oldest existing medical science of India, which is not only responsible for the health of human beings but also, plays an important in Veterinary sciences. In India, history of traditional Veterinary medicine dates back to the era of Mahãbhãrata i.e.5000 B.C., recorded in the form of "Nakula Samhhitã". Hastãyurvĕda is a treatise on elephants, Palkãpya wrote this Samhitã. The present book is available as a complete Samhitã, edited by Pandit Shivadutta Sharma. Hastã...
2006-11-29 - New Delhi, India. Chetan Chauhan
Of the 40 elephants deaths reported in Orissa since April this year, half have reportedly been killed by poachers. Usage of new tools indicates the involvement of international ivory smuggling rings. In the last ten days alone, six elephant deaths have been reported, of which four are believed to be result of poaching. Professor Raman Sukumar of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said it appears an international smuggling ring has become active in Orissa.
2006-11-28 - West Bengal, India.
In a programme implemented by the wildlife wing of the state forest department, all captive elephants in West Bengal will now have their own "identity cards". The 1 mm by 2 mm microchip will contain all details about the elephants, height, weight and a host of other parameters, inserted in the bodies of the elephants by a sub-cutaneous injection
2006-11-26 - DHARMAPURI, India.
To protect the elephant population in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri forests, The State Government would take initiatives to establish Cauvery Elephant Sanctuary, covering both Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri forest areas, Forest Minister N Selvaraj said here on Saturday. He said to avoid any life loss and crop loss, the Forest Department had been working to erect solar fencing on the forest borders in the State.
2006-11-24 - Agartala, India. Pinaki Das
The West Agartala Police today said that they have recovered five elephant tusk from poachers. Police said that acting on a tip-off, they arrested three poachers from whom the five tusks weighing more than five kilogram were recovered on Wednesday night. According to official record, there are around 50 elephants in Tripura and a proposal of Project Elephant is pending in New Delhi to protect the mammoths.
2006-11-23 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
It was a fight that even surprised the Forest officials of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR). A duel between a tiger and an elephant in which the big cat prevailed. The tiger reserve rarely has witnessed such incidents in the past although tigers are known to kill elephant calves. Every year, two or three calves are hunted by the tigers in the reserve.
2006-11-21 - Jorhat, India.
Police officials in Jorhat district, one of the strongholds of the outlawed Ulfa, today confirmed that elephants had destroyed several makeshift camps of the militant group on the chaporis — Assamese for sandbank — off Neamati. “We had information about the rebels setting up camps on these small islands and were planning to take action. But the elephants did the job for us,” a senior police officer said.
2006-11-21 - DEHRADUN, India.
Three women were trampled to death by elephants in the Rajaji National Park in Haridwar district of Uttaranchal, police said here on Tuesday. Two women who had gone to collect fodder in Jattowali Bagh and Kadachh area near the wildlife reserve were trampled by a herd of elephants on Monday, they said. In another incident, a woman in Latowali area died after an elephant charged at here the same area of the park. The bodies of the women were later recovered and sent for post-mortem, police added.
2006-11-21 - Mongpong, India. dailyindia.com
A speeding train in Mongpong, North Bengal, has run another elephant, taking the pachyderm death toll in the state to five since May. This is the second time that an elephant has been killed in the area in the last week. About 300 to 350 of them are alive in Northern Bengal region. If it continues like this, such as the five elephants that died, and railway authorities do not take any steps to prevent such incidents, then people will stand in front of the trains to protest against this. This can...
2006-11-21 - Jaipur, India.
Brightly painted elephants, spangled camels, dancing girls, fire-breathers and sword-wielding soldiers greeted guests at City Palace in Jaipur, India, on Friday in a traditional procession last performed for Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the city 42 years ago. A dinner in the dazzling royal apartments followed, hosted by HRH Bhawani Singh and HRH Padmini Devi, the maharaja and maharani of Jaipur, in honor of a Cartier-sponsored elephant polo match to benefit the local animal shelter, Help ...
2006-11-20 - JAIPUR, India. Natures Corner
Eighteen protesters from organizations across India were arrested Friday at Jaipur's polo ground as they demonstrated against a game of elephant polo, a sport they say is cruel to the elephants. The protesters say sharp steel hooks used to prod the elephants into obeying their riders cause open wounds, which become painfully infected and are slow to heal. Use of the hooks was not allowed during the actual polo match on Saturday after a campaign against them by animal welfare groups, Elephant Fam...
2006-11-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Rajesh Sinha
Nearly 300 persons are killed every year by wild elephants in India. The figure was as low as 200 till year 1999-2000 - an indicator of the growing human-elephant conflict. In India, elephant habitats have fragmented into 88 patches in the country, and this is increasing under pressure of human population. With their habitats under pressure, elephant herds have moved into areas they have not been seen in for decades.
2006-11-20 - CHANDIGARH, India.
The Centre has sanctioned an amount of Rs 90.75 lakh for setting up of an Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Haryana, Minister of State for Forests and Tourism Kiran Choudhary said here on Monday. A proposal for the establishment of such a centre was sent to the Central government which approved it and released Rs 50 lakh as the first instalment for the current financial year, she said.
2006-11-20 - Tamil Nadu, India. Natarajan Sivaganesan Ph.D Elephant Ecologist
Two female elephants, Palani Kovil (Sumathi - + 35) and Madurai Krishnan Kovil (Thanalashmi + 30)died in Tamil Nadu, South India. This unfortunate even occured within a week (1-10 November 06) due to serious ailments in both the cases, concluded by the expert who performed the postmortum. These elephants used by the temple authorities for daily pooja's over several years.
2006-11-19 - Jaipur, India.
A polo match with players riding on elephant went undeterred in spite of the protest by animal lovers here. Prominent personalities from the corporate world and Bollywood were present to see the match as elephants went on a roll during the match at the Ram Bagh. Palace Polo grounds. Among these celebrities, the former Indian Cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin and his wife Sangita Bijlani happened to be the cynosure as they played in the match representing the opposite sides.
2006-11-19 - CALCUTTA, India.
Speeding trains killed two elephants in separate collisions over the past week in India, officials said Sunday. A passenger train hit an elephant as it crossed a track in the northern Dooars region of eastern India's West Bengal state Saturday night, said Tapas Bose, a forest officer in the district. A few days earlier, another elephant died after a freight train knocked it over in a densely forested area also in the Dooars region, Bose said.
2006-11-19 - Guwahati, India. Indo-Asian News Service
Four members of a family, including an infant, were trampled to death Sunday by wild Asiatic elephants in Assam, the latest in a series of attacks on human beings, wildlife officials said. A forest official said a herd of about seven elephants entered village Borbhugia in Sonitpur district, about 270 km north from here. 'The elephants after entering the village tore apart a hut and killed the entire family of four who were sleeping. The dead include a seven month old baby boy,' Chandan Bora, a w...
2006-11-19 - COIMBATORE, India.
The forest department is well into the job of developing an elephant corridor, by linking the rainforest patches within the private estates in Valparai and also linking these patches with the nearby Reserve Forest area, with the help of private estates in the region, as a permanent solution to the man-animal conflict. The plan is in the initial stage, wherein the forest department, this year, has been raising 10,000 rainforest seedlings. The project was expected to yield fruit in about 10 years.
2006-11-18 - JALPAIGURI, India.
An elephant was run over and killed by a train at Sevak in Kalimpong forest division today, forest officilas said. The incident occurred when the animal was straying over the track and did not move away seeing the approaching train, the sources said.
2006-11-17 - NEW DELHI, India.
Animal rights activists in India have called on the eve of a controversial tournament for the elite, centuries-old sport of elephant polo to be banned due to what they say is the pain and suffering it causes the animals. Privileged royals and the rich have been playing the game for hundreds of years in the desert state of Rajasthan, dotted with the fading palaces of once powerful royals, and still stage regular events.
2006-11-17 - Thekkady, India.
The very sound of the word Thekkady conjures up images of elephants, unending chains of hills and spice scented plantations. In the Periyar forest of Thekkady is one of the finest wildlife reserves in India, and spread across the entire place are picturesque plantations and hill towns that hold great opportunities for treks and mountain walks.
2006-11-17 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The Forest Department has virtually blocked the arrival of out-of-work North Indian, especially Bihar, elephants to the state. Chief Wildlife Warden V Gopinathan has asked his Bihar counterpart to get his no objection certificate and only then allow the transit of elephants from Bihar to Kerala. Says Gopinathan: ‘‘During the last few months an unusually large number of elephants have been transported to the state from Bihar. By law we cannot stop then from coming. But if it affects the well-...
2006-11-16 - Puducherry, India.
A 45-minute "minor" surgery was conducted here today on an elephant to remove pus from an abscess that had developed on the back of the animal's tail. As soon as the abscess was noticed, the services of a retired professor of a veterinary college of Kerala, K C Panicker, were sought and he rushed here to treat the elephant, said a spokesman of Sri Manakula Vinayakar temple which owns the elephant.
2006-11-16 - Keonjhar, India. NDTV Correspondent
Elephants in Orissa face extinction if they continue to die or be killed at the current rate, according to official and unofficial counts. Spreading mining activity in the region is blamed for man's conflict with the elephant. At least 60 elephants have been killed in the past two years, official estimates say - and unofficial reports say 200 elephants died during the same time.
2006-11-15 - Jaipur, India. Rajan Mahan
The elephant polo cup on Saturday in Jaipur was to be a highlight of the current polo season. But a petition by animal rights activists claims the jumbos are trained with ''brutal methods'' that inflict a lot of pain. "Our big objection is that the elephant is a Schedule 1 animal in the Wildlife Act and yet the jumbos will be misused for this game for commercial reasons.
2006-11-15 - New Delhi, India. Peter Foster
Mark Shand, the elephant conservationist and brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, is facing protests from eminent animal welfare experts over plans to stage an elephant polo match in the Indian city of Jaipur this weekend. Mr Shand, author of the best-selling Travels on my Elephant, said he organised the match, sponsored by the jewellers, Cartier, to give dignity back to the elephant. A host of international celebrities will take part in the match before being encouraged to put pressure on govern...
2006-11-15 - Madurai, India.
A Rs three crore plan to provide a concrete roof for a 725 metre path used by elephants to the Palani Sri Dhandayudhapaniswamy temple, 120 km from here, has been sent for government approval, officials said. Officials said the total length of the path is 886 metres. There are 45 'four pillared' mandapams along the pathway which cover/provide shelter for 161 metres. The remaining distance is uncovered.
2006-11-14 - New Delhi, India. Desmond Boylan
An elephant loaded with tree branches walks down a busy road in New Delhi November 14, 2006. Yahoo! News Photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan (INDIA)
2006-11-14 - Jalpaiguri, India.
A wild elephant was crushed to death when it came in the way of a moving goods train in West Bengals Jalpaiguri District. Wildlife activists claimed that such incidents keep taking place in the absence of any precaution by the railway staff. Our complaint is that one after another such incidents keep repeating. The railway staff said that they are following orders of the expert committee but there is an immediate need to do something to put a check on it, otherwise these elephants will keep dyin...
2006-11-14 - Guwahati, India.
Three members of a family, including a four year-old child, were trampled to death and one wounded by wild Asiatic elephants in Assam, wildlife officials said Tuesday. A herd of about 24 elephants went amok after drinking rice beer Monday in Teok Kathoni, a tribal village surrounded by tea gardens, about 370 km from here, a forest official said. The elephants, after entering the village, first guzzled locally made rice beer kept in drums and then went on a rampage killing three people, including...
2006-11-14 - THRISSUR, India.
The Elephant Lovers' Forum has urged the state government to check alleged traffic of captive elephants. In a statement here yesterday, the forum alleged that there were moves to transport captive elephants from Bihar to Kerala without valid documents, such as no-objection certificates from the Chief Wildlife Warden. "Such moves violate provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972." (Available from Amazon)
2006-11-13 - Dhanbad, India. RESHAM MUKHERJEE
A herd of 13 elephants entered the coal capital a few days ago from Dumka via Jamtara. They travelled across the Barakar near Tundi-Nirsa border of Dhanbad and came into the forest areas of the tribal Tundi block. The forest department is trying to create a “corridor” for elephants in Dumka, Chatra, Hazaribagh and Koderma forest divisions apart from six others in Singhbhum and Kolhan, but they are increasingly straying outside their territories like errant schoolchildren.
2006-11-13 - Sonitpur, India.
Three Asiatic wild elephants have died of electrocution after a high tension wire fell on a herd in Assam, wildlife officials said Monday. A forest warden said an elephant herd Sunday strayed into the Behali tea plantation, about 230 km from here, and tripped over an electric pole. "The high tension wire first electrocuted a full-grown female elephant and immediately two of her calves tried to rescue her and in the process all the three died," Chandan Bora, divisional forest officer, told IANS b...
2006-11-10 - Jaipur, India.
A bull elephant, Ramu, in 'musth' today went berserk after seeing a she elephant Shyama walking ahead on Galta Road, injuring her, damaging roadside tinsheds and halting traffic near Ghat-ki- Balaji temple here until it was tranquilised by zoo officials. A veterinary doctor and forest officials from Jaipur zoo were rushed there and a tranquilizer gun used on Ramu, who then fell asleep in a sandy bed, he said.
2006-11-10 - Thrissur, India. Sanu George
A group of veterinarians in India have initiated a unique project that aims at providing free health check-ups to captive elephants through mobile clinics. Conceptualised by a team of veterinarians under the guidance of Jacob V. Cheeran, the project is supported by two Bangalore based NGOs - Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF) and Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA). The Elephant Welfare Association, Trissur, and the Elephant Study Centre at Kerala Agricultural University are also as...
2006-11-09 - Theni, India.
The DMK Government in Tamil Nadu is exploring possibilities of holding the annual rejuvenation camp for temple elephants in different places instead of Mudumalai forest area alone, according to HR and CE officials. A team of officials, who visited one of the proposed sites near Manjalaru Dam in the district, said they inspected the facilities available at the big garden of Sri Moongilanai Kamatchi Amman temple, located in a forest area, for conducting the camp for the pachyderms from Madurai, Di...
2006-11-09 - Goreshwar, India.
Afternoon siesta is a luxury that people living in Goreshwar village in Assam cannot indulge in. Elephants emerge from the jungle every year to take advantage of the paddy harvest while others have discovered a taste for local liquor, and drink everything they can lay their trunks on. As their traditional habitats are taken over by man, elephants have been raiding military depots, drinking liquor, terrorising and killing villagers, destroying their farm houses and leaving a trail of destruction ...
2006-11-07 - Ranchi, India.
With human efforts failing to prevent the depredations caused by rampaging elephants, tribal people in Jharkhand have instead turned to praying to the animals for protection. The various methods adopted by the forest department have failed to protect the people from the tuskers, which regularly venture into villages, kill humans and destroy crops. Tribals in several parts of the state have started worshipping the elephants to appease them, villagers say. Elephant images are made and natu...
2006-11-04 - Calcutta, India. JAYANTA BASU
Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said railway officials and the forest department will meet to discuss ways to minimise accidents involving elephants on railway tracks in north Bengal. the accidents took place because gauge conversion had led to an increase in the speed limit of trains.
2006-11-04 - SILIGURI, India.
A group of 17 elephants walked into the Atal Tea Estate plantation on the outskirts of Siliguri last night without signs of moving out. Although the elephants have not caused any damage so far, their presence has robbed the locals of their sleep. On 23 October, a group of 13 elephants had ambled into the same plantation causing serious concern among the workers. Forest department officials, after a lot of effort, managed to drive away the pachyderms to the nearby forests on that occasion.
2006-11-03 - MADURAI, India.
Sumathi, a 39-year-old elephant of Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple, died at Palani on Wednesday night. The pachyderm, which was ailing due to a bacterial attack since October 31, had lost movement of both its hind legs and was treated by a team of veterinary doctors drawn from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The end came around 10.20 p.m.
2006-11-03 - DHARMAPURI, India.
An elephant was found dead near Thakkatty tribal village in Anchetty forests in Krishnagiri district. The sex and cause of death of the pachyderm is yet to be ascertained. Whether the elephant was killed by poachers or it died a natural death remained a mystery, said Forest officials. A post-mortem would be conducted on the spot on Thursday, they added.
2006-11-02 - Thrissur, India.
The elephants of Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple, employed specifically to serve the Lord, will be for the first time in history, rented out to pose as showpieces in a lavish marriage ceremony to be held in Tamil Nadu on January 7. Guruvayur Padmanabhan, considered to be the state’s most majestic tusker and employed exclusively to carry the ‘thidambu’ of the Lord, is among the five elephants offered on rent.
2006-10-28 - Mumbai, India. Aditya Ghosh
"Learning to live with elephants" is now the mantra of the Maharashtra forest department and in that, they are now been told by the Centre to prepare the areas in Kolhapur for elephant habitation. With funds under Project Elephants promised for the state, the forest department is trying desperately to reduce man-animal conflict and make the area a safe home for the pachyderms.
2006-10-27 - New Delhi, India. Zafri Mudasser Nofil
A doorbell can be an effective tool to check marauding elephants from entering into human territory, according to a wildlife expert who has successfully implemented the method in Assam. "Every time an elephant trips on the fence while trying to cross, the bell rings. This gives the people enough time to thwart the animal," Goswami told IANS. "The technique involves a cell, switch and a bell connected to a high fence built with nylon strings," said Shimanta Goswami, a member of the Emergency Reli...
2006-10-26 - Darjeeling, India.
A herd of 15 wild elephants has been destroying crops in tea estates across Darjeeling.The elephants, which inhabit the forests nearby, often come out of the thick vegetation into fields and tea estates in Darjeeling. Pushed back into the ever-smaller pockets of jungle and with limited access to their traditional habitats, elephants have been coming into daily conflict with plantation workers.
2006-10-24 - Siliguri, India.
A herd of over 100 elephants went on a rampage in the Terai and Dooars region of North Bengal killing a girl and injuring two others, officials said here today. The elephants also partly demolished a heritage temple and destroyed standing crops, they said. A 19 year girl was trampled to death by a wild elephant while she was returning home from a Kali puja pandal on Saturday. Her friend who was accompanying her was also attacked by the elephant. She has been admitted to the North Bengal Medical ...
2006-10-24 - Mumbai, India. Aditya Ghosh
While the Government of Maharashtra has been allowed to add elephants in its variety of wildlife 'officially' after a century of no records of the animal in the state, the forest officials are busy inviting experts from different states to teach them and the villagers how to tackle these creatures.
2006-10-17 - Sambalpur, India.
Three elephants died in the Polagada forest under Rairakhol sub-division, after they had come in contact with high voltage electric wire yesterday night, forest officers in Rairakhol said. Out of the three, two were reported to be females. “Whether the elephants died after having come in contact with electricity lines or during the preventive measures by farmers to save their crops is yet to be discovered,” said Mr Raju Kumar, the conservator of forests.
2006-10-17 - Bangalore, India.
A herd of around 35 elephants strayed into villages on the periphery of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on Sunday night, creating panic among villagers. The elephants strayed into Begehalli, Ramasagara and Nallasandra villages near Jigani in Anekal taluk, three km from the BNP. The Forest Department staff burst firecrackers and chased the animals back into the BNP around 11.30 a.m.
2006-10-16 - Jalpaiguri, India.
Two elephant tusks were recovered from an imam of a local mosque, by forest department personnel at Chuniajhora tea garden area of West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. Anwar Ansari was arrested yesterday, the last day of the wildlife week, an oppurtunity he had used to procure the tusks, forest department sources said. Buying or selling of elephant tusks is banned in the country.
2006-10-16 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Captive elephants in Kerala are being given 'registration numbers' - in the form of a microchip device planted under the skin - in order to put an end to frauds committed by unscrupulous owners. "Microchip is one centimetre in length and has a diameter comparable to that of a grain of rice. This is encased in a glass pellet and has a unique code number," veteran elephant expert Jacob Cheeran told IANS.
2006-10-13 - Pondicherry, India. Ingmar Lee and Krista Roessingh
We are appealing for your immediate help to protect South India’s last significant herds of Wild Elephants! The most seemingly insurmountable obstacle to the protection of the elephants is, quite tragically, rampant bureaucratic inertia. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourselves with the predicament of these magnificent animals!
2006-10-13 - Shimoga, India. Rajesh Kamath/Darius Taraporvala
It was a very special day for the elephants of Sakkare Bele Camp. All their months of training was tested on the annual sports day for elephants. It was the day when all the elephants came out to play. "On this Elephant Day we have arranged competitions like banana and sugarcane eating and pure simple commands from mahouts that elephants can follow," said Melochago, DCF, Wildlife Department, Shimoga.
2006-10-13 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Two elephants were found dead in a paddy field in Lahanda under Keonjhar districts Joda police limits on Thursday. The pachyderms, both juvenile females, are believed to have been poisoned. There was no sign of any external injury nor was there any electricity supply line in the vicinity to suggest that the two could have been electrocuted, sources in the department said.
2006-10-12 - Delhi, India. Justin Huggler
Attacks by elephants on humans, both in Africa and India, have been increasing dramatically in the past five years. As villagers tell of 'revenge raids', scientists argue that loss of habitat and social structure is seriously destabilising these magnificent creatures.
2006-10-09 - Ranchi, India.
Fear of revenge by a herd of elephants has forced people in a Jharkhand village to flee from their homes following the death of a baby elephant after it fell into a well. A baby elephant fell into a well in Banta village Saturday night, about 70 km from here after it got separated from the herd. The elephant finally succumbed to injuries Sunday morning despite a valiant rescue bid by the villagers and forest department officials.
2006-10-09 - Tamil Nadu, India.
Two women and a child were crushed to death by some wild elephants when they entered the village Alimnagar in Akkaraipattu in Amparai district Sunday night around 09:30 p.m. Marauding elephants Sunday evening entered after dusk charging residents and damaged several huts. Elephants had dragged the victims out of their huts and dashed them on the ground.
2006-10-06 - Coimbatore, India.
A thirsty elephant looking for water drank fermented wash and died yesterday at Anaikatti forest area, about 45 km from here, along the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, Forest department sources said today. The pachyderm had strayed from its herd in search of water and run amok in Sholayar in Kerala a few days back. It had consumed the wash, containing ammonium sulphate and battery acid, from a reserve forest area in that state where illicit distillation activities were going on, the sources said.
2006-10-06 - MUMBAI, India.
Elephants in India's financial capital are to be microchipped to make sure unlicensed pachyderms don't give authorities a jumbo-sized headache. "A microchip is like a voter identity card: if an elephant doesn't have one, we'll know it's in the city illegally," said Sarfaraz Khan, deputy conservator of forests for Mumbai's Thane district and the driving force behind the initiative.
2006-10-06 - Guruvayur, India. S. Chandrasekhar
Thirupathi, Sabarimala and Guruvayur are the three major temples in South India visited by crores of devotees, all through the year. If there is some attractive magnetic force which differentiates Guruvayur from other temples, it is the temple owned elephant home, popularly known as Aanathavalam or Punnathur Kota. As per records of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, it is the only temple-owned domesticated elephant home in the whole world.
2006-10-05 - Mysore, India.
The Dasara elephants, after discharging their duty, have embarked on their return journey to the forests along with the mahouts and their families, from the Palace premises this morning. The jumbos Harsha, Vikram and Vijaya will return to Dubare elephant camp in Kushalnagar while Abhimanyu and Srirama will return Murkal in Nagarahole forests and Mary to Sunkadakatte camp.
2006-10-05 - Bijnor, India.
Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two men in Bijnor and recovered from them an elephant tusk, worth thousands of dollars in the international market. "My informer told me that some people are involved with elephant tusk smuggling. I went to the spot along with my informer and other officials. One of the three ran away, but we arrested two and recovered an elephant tusk," said, Javed Khan, a police officer.
2006-10-02 - KOLLAM, India.
The programme of implanting electronic identity cards in the form of microchips on captive elephants was inaugurated here on Monday by Kerala Forests Minister Binoy Viswam at the start of the Wildlife Week celebrations in the state. About 800 captive elephants would get the device under the programme. The chip will be implanted through a minor procedure by a veterinary surgeon, the sources said.
2006-10-01 - Mysore, India.
A slice of the royal Orient of yore will be seen on Monday when majestic elephants take centre stage to add lustre to the Vijayadashami procession to mark the grand finale of the Mysore Dasara celebrations. Balarama, who is 48 years old and a veteran of 12 Dasara processions, will carry the Golden Howdah with the idol of the goddess Chamundeshwari. He was captured in 1987 in the Kattepura forests and succeeded Drona who was electrocuted in 1998 in the forests of Nagarahole.
2006-09-28 - Mysore, India.
The threat of mahouts managing the Dasara elephants, the main part of jumboo savari, to boycott the procession has put the organisers in a piquant situation as the demand of regularisation of mahouts' jobs awaits Government nod while the final day of procession is hardly a few days away. "When the Government has insured the golden howdah, why not the mahouts, who take utmost care of the elephant that carries it"? they asked.
2006-09-28 - Jaipur, India.
Rajasthan plans to set up a home for elephants rescued from all over the country. The centre is expected to come up in an area of about 80 hectares where as many as 50 elephants would be housed, according to the forest department here. "The centre will be run by Help In Suffering, an NGO working for the welfare of animals in Jaipur," a forest department official said.
2006-09-27 - Maharashtra, India. Raul Dias
After actor Rahul Khanna's charged-up letter to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, urging him to ban the entry of elephants into the city of Mumbai following the tragic death of the injured elephant Roopkali, the denizens of Bollywood and the fashion world have joined hands to take this very message — that elephants belong in the wild, not in cities — across India.
2006-09-26 - Assam, India. Joanna Benn and Jan Vertefeuille
When an elephant calf was found dead on the Sesar tea estate last year in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, workers there buried the body and erected a small temple to Ganesha over the grave. They hoped this tribute to the popular elephant-headed Hindu god would appease a nearby herd of elephants that had been wreaking havoc on their crops. The elephants, however, trampled the temple soon after it was erected.
2006-09-26 - Guwahati, India. Syed Zarir Hussain
Wildlife authorities in India's northeastern state of Assam will soon play recorded sounds of horses neighing to scare away hungry wild Asiatic elephants currently locked in deadly turf wars with humans. This was among other measures devised at an emergency meeting of experts, officials, elephant owners, and locals that concluded Monday at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam to ease the alarming man-elephant conflict in the region.
2006-09-24 - GUWAHATI, India.
Deadly turf wars between humans and hungry elephants in India's northeast have reached alarming proportions, say experts who plan an emergency meeting this week to tackle the problem. Elephants have killed 239 people in Assam state in the past five years while 265 elephants have died during the same period, said a wildlife department report released on Friday ahead of the meeting.
2006-09-24 - Kochi, India.
'We will give free insurance cover for 500 mahouts on Nov 18 - the first day of the Tripunithura Temple festival' said E. Nandakumar, secretary of Elephant Care. The society hopes that in due course they will be able to extend the insurance cover to all mahouts in the state. There are around 700 captive elephants and nearly 1,400 mahouts in Kerala.
2006-09-24 - Mumbay, India. Anand Giridharadas
She traveled perhaps a thousand miles from India's bleak, lawless heartland to this steaming metropolis. And now, lying listless on the bed of a truck with a rope circling her feet, the migrant quit this alleged city of dreams. Before dawn on Friday, Lakshmi died in a heap of hay and sugar cane at a veterinary hospital in the heart of Mumbai. She was a part-time elephant entertainer, doing weddings and religious festivals, and she had been struck by a vehicle, whose driver was said to have been ...
2006-09-22 - Guwahati, India.
Wildlife authorities in Assam have warned that the human-elephant conflict has reached alarming proportions with the pachyderms straying into towns and cities looking for food. ‘The battle between humans and elephants is very serious with the beasts killing people and destroying properties and locals attacking the pachyderms and causing heavy casualties,’ said Assam’s chief wildlife warden M.C. Malakar.
2006-09-22 - Mumbai, India.
Veterinarians and animal lovers at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) hospital at Parel bid farewell to Roopkali, the 33-year-old female elephant who was injured in a truck accident on Tuesday. She died at 4.30am on Friday, BSPCA Secretary Colonel JC Khanna said.
2006-09-15 - Calcutta, India. Subir Bhaumik
Elephants in the Indian state of West Bengal are to undergo a birth control scheme due to a lack of funds for their upkeep, the state government says. Of West Bengal's 400 elephants, nearly 70 are tame and in service to private owners or the state forest department. Forest guards use them to patrol the many wildlife sanctuaries. But wildlife conservation groups have been angered by the proposed introduction of such birth control methods for the elephants.
2006-09-06 - Thrissur, India.
In a novel initiative, the elephant owners and mahouts in Kerala have joined hands by forming a cooperative society to handle various issues related to their trade and healthcare of the elephants. The organisers--Society of Elephant Owners, the city's Municipal Corporation and the District Tourism Promotion Council--distributed safety gears made of fluorescent material, which would reduce accidents on roads while transporting animals from one place to another.
2006-09-04 - Thrissur, India.
The elephant fair in Thrissur is an inseparable part of Kerala's culture and tradition and attracts thousands of people as well as protests. Animal lovers feel the fair violates the rules for elephants in captivity. They are moving the Kerala High Court against the organisers, which include ministers, the district administration and forest officials. More than 100 elephants from different temples participated in the fair, which was witnessed by thousands of people.
2006-09-02 - Raipur, India. Jay Mazoomdaar
A unique solution to resolve the elephant-human conflict, that could serve as a model for conservation elsewhere, is taking shape in Chhattisgarh. Under this, different forests will be linked by revitalising existing corridors and creating new ones in a three-phase project to protect affected tribals and earmark biologically sustainable forests for an elephant reserve.
2006-08-29 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant at Kamla Nehru Zoo, which went berserk this morning and threw off its Mahout injuring him severely, broke open the shed where he was locked at about 7.30 pm and started wandering around its open paddock, trumpeting loudly. The elephant, Moti, had to be given three tranquiliser shots to calm him down, but he seemed unaffected and went about eating grass.
2006-08-26 - Kaniyanpura, Karnataka, India.
The Kaniyanpura elephant corridor in Karnataka is Asia’s largest with 6,500 elephants using it to move from one forest to another. However, CNN-IBN has found out that the state’s booming tourism industry is preying on the space reserved for the wild. CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team has in its possession some revealing satellite images that show that the elephants, while crossing from the Mudumalai Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu to the Bandipur Forest, will now come up against a holiday resort.
2006-08-22 - Mysore, India.
Five elephants, including Balarama, the howdah elephant, arrived in Mysore city yesterday evening. Bharatha, Gajendra and Prashantha along with Balarama travelled in separate trucks from Veeranahosahalli Forest Area and reached Aranya Bhavan at about 7.45 pm.
2006-08-21 - Jagiroad, Assam, India.
Captive elephants in Assam, which literally turned to begging for a living on the roads, are back at work, with scores of them engaged in timber transport. As part of the four-lane express highway project in Assam, we are first clearing forests and cutting down trees before actual construction work begins. The elephants do the job of clearing the felled trees really fast. Manually it would have taken hours and there would have been a severe traffic jam, a contractor said.
2006-08-04 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A wild elephant crushed a man to death in Orissa for pulling its tail. The elephant appeared at Badabil in Keonjhar district at about 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the Oriya daily Dharitri. The deceased, a driver, pulled the tail of the elephant out of curiosity. The elephant became furious, caught the driver by its trunk and crushed him, the report added. Police later got the man's body, whose identity is yet to be established.
2006-07-30 - Shimla, India.
Environmentalists who have been celebrating the first entry of wild elephants into Himachal Pradesh in decades have something more to cheer about: a baby elephant has been born to the herd. The birth is being described as the first in the hill state where wild elephants have made their presence felt after a long time. The six elephants entered Himachal Pradesh’s Poanta valley earlier this month by crossing the Yamuna from neighbouring Uttaranchal.
2006-07-26 - Panaji, India.
Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane said Goa would seek the assistance of Maharashtra government to drive away the three elephants that are causing havoc in Pernem. He said every time the elephants are driven away, they return causing much damage to plantations in Bicholim and Pernem talukas. “We drove them out at a heavy cost and we also had to pay compensation to the affected persons”, Rane said.
2006-07-18 - BICHOLIM, India.
If wild elephants have struck terror in Pernem taluka, they have now turned their attention to Bicholim taluka. Three tuskers on Tuesday strayed into the border villages of Bicholim taluka, including Menkurem, Kadsal and Dhumashem, destroying property in the area. It may be recalled that wild elephants had entered Bicholim last year and had killed a resident, Yeshwant Phadte of Revora-Bardez.
2006-07-18 - Chennai, India.
Left to the mercy of fate after the untimely death of his mother, a six-month-old baby elephant is now the much-loved inmate of a zoo in Chennai. The calf was recently rescued from the dense forests of the Tamil Nadu's Hosur division by villagers and handed over to the state Forest Department.
2006-07-15 - Bhubaneswar, India.
The skeleton of a huge tusker that killed two persons before its death in the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary near Bhubaneswar is being put up for display at the Regional Museum of Natural History. It appeared that it had suffered pellet wounds which were not healing. Wildlife personnel and vets even tranquilised it in the wild to treat its wounds, but it did not survive and died on May 17.
2006-07-15 - Chennai, India. Jai Kumar
An orphaned baby elephant found in Tamil Nadus Hosur region, has found a new home at the Vandalur Aringna Anna zoo in Chennai. The baby elephant, which recently lost its mother to an unknown infectious disease was found by villagers who handed it over to local forest rangers. The calf is being fed grass for the time being, Ananth Samy, the director of the zoo, said.
2006-07-14 - Shimla, India. Baldev S. Chauhan
A herd of eight elephants entered Himachal Pradesh's Poanta Valley some days ago by crossing the Yamuna from neighbouring Uttaranchal. The animals are now grazing peacefully in the forests of the valley, located in Sirmaur district some 175 km from here. Environmentalists are celebrating the first entry of wild elephants into Himachal Pradesh in several decades, though farmers are a little worried over the guests
2006-07-11 - Guruvayur, India.
All the 62 elephants of the famed Sri Krishna temple here will now enjoy a month-long rest from today with the annual restorative treatment for the pachyderms getting underway. "Guruvayur Devaswom is perhaps the only place where such a restorative treatment is given to such a large number of elephants. Over the years, the treatement, sukha chikitsa in Malayalam, has proved to be good not just for their physical vigour but also for mental health," temple authorities said.
2006-07-11 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Is Sethulakshmy pregnant? This is a big question which is bothering the Kerala police after they arrested the owner of the 38-year-old captive elephant. Just last month, Prasanthan Guruji, the previous owner of the elephant, is now cooling his heels in jail. He has been arrested by the Thiruvananthapuram police for torturing his two mahouts. His claims about his elephant being pregnant are also suspect. Prashant claims that the elephant is pregnant. His mahout says it's not.
2006-07-10 - Cochin, Kerala, India. Juhan Samuel
Caparisons that were once used to adorn elephants during traditional religious processions, now are decoration pieces in homes and offices in Kerala. The huge, three piece ornamental set, consisting of a headgear, an umbrella, decorative fans and a bunch of yak fur is traditionally made of copper and gold, and costs thousands of dollars. Entrepreneurs in Kerala have now devised a way of making the jewellery of High Impact Polymer (HIP), a synthetic organic compound, bringing down the cost ten ti...
2006-07-10 - TRIVANDRUM, India.
An elephant owner in Kerala, who sold an elephant for a hefty price by feeding a fabricated story to the media, has landed in the police net. Prasanth alias Guruji, who lives on the outskirts of the state’s capital city of Trivandrum, sold the elephant called Sethulakshmi for Rs1.1 million after he planted stories in the media that the animal had become pregnant and would bring big fortune.
2006-07-09 - Panaji, India.
As Regards to the wild tuskers coming back in Pernem, the deputy conservator of forests, North Goa, Mr S T d’A Henriques said that in case the tuskers reappear the people should keep calm, maintain safe distance and immediately intimate their presence to the forest officials. In a statement he said the wild tuskers having migrated from Karnataka into Maharashtra and then strayed into Goa last year, caused damage to crops including loss of a human life.
2006-07-08 - Sullia, Kerala, India.
A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant at Mittur of Ubaradka near here on Friday July 7. The deceased has been identified as Somanathan (45) of Kerala. He was the mahout of this particular elephant which was brought from Cochin in Kerala. The elephant was summoned from Cochin to pull trees in one Mohan Bhats plantations at Ubaradka.
2006-07-07 - Calcutta, India. Mamoni Raisom Goswami
My forefathers were the adhikars of the Satra (Vaishnavite monastery) and it was a tradition to keep many elephants, both for work and travelling. We had several elephants and I remember the dhuri (cow) with the single tusk, which my grandmother used to take out for grazing to our backyard. Whenever we visited Amranga, we were given an elephant for joy rides and to play with.
2006-07-07 - Perumbavoor, Kerala, India.
Mr Prakashan (42), a mahout accused of pouring acid into the left eye of an elephant under his care in 1999, has been acquitted by a lower court here, about 40 km from Kochi, for lack of sufficient evidence. Prakashan allegedly poured the acid into the left eye of the tusker, "Arun Kumar", on Oct.15, 1999 fearing that the owner was trying to sell the elephant and that he would lose the job.
2006-07-07 - Kochi, India.
A two-month old baby elephant which was being washed away in a river has been rescued by tribals and brought to the Elephant Care Centre at Kodanad near Perumbavoor, about 40 km from here. The animal had accidently wandered away from a herd of wild elephants in Nilambur forests and fallen into the river. Senior veterinary surgeon, Dr S Salim, examined the elephant yesterday. She is being fed milk, tender coconuts, glucose and complan, the sources said.
2006-07-05 - Kochi, India.
The Kerala High Court today dismissed a PIL seeking a probe into the capture and subsequent death of the rogue elephant 'Kolakolli', which had spread terror in the Peppara Wild Life Sanctuary near Thiruvananthapuram last month. The petitioners, People for Animals, Thiruvananthapuram, Wild Life Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, Bangalore, India Projects for Animals and Nature, Tamil Nadu, had sought appropriate action against those responsible, including Chief Wild Life warden and other forest of...
2006-07-04 - Hyderabad, India. Gupta SK, Thangaraj K, Singh L. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad
We have developed a technique based on molecular markers to determine that the carcass is an elephant and that it is a male. Using DNA sequence information from Genbank, we have developed two primer pairs: one for the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the other for the sex-determining region of Y chromosome (SRY) gene of the Indian elephant.
2006-06-30 - Ranchi, India.
The tuskers attacked six women workers who were returning to their homes in the Angada block. The elephants immediately returned back to the jungles. Two women died on the spot, while the other four got sustained injuries. In the past five years, more than 320 people have been trampled to death by elephants in the state.
Two women were trampled to death by rampaging elephants on the outskirts of this Jharkhand capital, police said Friday. The incident took place Thursday night when the tuskers attacked six women workers who were returning to their homes in the Angada block, 40 km from here. The elephants immediately returned back to the jungles. Two women died on the spot, while the other four sustained injuries.
2006-06-30 - Jaipur, India.
Uttaranchal is seeking trained elephants from Jaipur for its two national parks. The Uttaranchal forest department has made the request to introduce safaris at the Rajaji and Jim Corbett national parks. A Jaipur zoo official told IANS: 'We have informed elephant owners about it and it is for them to decide.'
2006-06-30 - Guwahati, India.
Herds of wild elephants are running amok in Assam, damaging vast swathes of crops and also mud and thatch huts as they move out of their jungles to look for rice beer in human settlement areas in northeastern India. The raids by the pachyderms have resulted in at least five people losing their lives during the past two months.
2006-06-29 - Bhubaneswar, India.
Officials had found Motilal, a 15-year-old tamed elephant, abandoned on the national highway in the western district of Dhenkanal in Orissa in 2004. Officials brought the animal, which had been left by its mahout, to the Chandaka elephant reserve, using it for patrolling to check poaching and timber smuggling. On June 23, Chilu, its new mahout, attacked it with metal tools used to control elephants. Chilu was allegedly drunk and injured the animal in several places, including its trunk, mouth ...
2006-06-28 - Jaipur, India.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, on a 15-day tour of Britain and the US, has promised that the states pachyderms would be properly cared for in an elephant village at Amber near here. Raje made the assurance Tuesday at a charity show organised by Elephant Family, an NGO in London that works for the welfare of Asian elephants, as also in Rajasthan, reports reaching here Wednesday said.
2006-06-16 - Kerala, India.
Sethulakshmy, a 38-year-old captive elephant is 18 months pregnant and the talk of Thiruvanantapuram. Owner Prashantan Guruji, who has five elephants, is very nervous. "I am happy but also worried. Even veterinary doctors are not saying anything clearly. So, I am quite concerned and keeping my fingers crossed," said Guruji.
2006-05-29 - New Delhi, India.
The Wildlife SOS Elephant Welfare Project in India has just launched a new street elephant rescue programme. Illegally caught captive elephants in India are estimated to number more than 5000. Delhi is one of the most populated and polluted cities in the world, where 40 of these elephants are subjected to terrible living and "working" conditions.
2006-05-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. JOHN MARY
When forest officers failed to catch a rogue elephant, some tribals decided to hold them captive. Officials from Kerala and Tamil Nadu were locked inside a building in the Peppara forest range, around 50 km from here, for nearly three hours today by the group that included women and children. They demanded immediate capture of the elephant that has killed their kin and eaten their crops.
2006-05-21 - Guwahati, India. Utpal Borpujari
A Supreme court ban on logging has led to the problem of elephants and their mahouts in Assam having to pace the streets, begging for a living. Mrinal Talukdar’s film focuses on this issue. A small film on a jumbo problem is Assam is creating waves. In Search of a Job, a 14-minute film by an Assamese journalist on the heart-rending issue problem of domesticated elephants begging on the streets after being made “jobless†due to the Supreme Court ban on logging brought under foc...
2006-05-21 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
The man-animal conflict in the Agasthyar forests has entered its climactic phase. After weeks of indecision, the government has decided to set up an elaborate trap to capture the wild elephants that are creating havoc in the 27 kani settlements spread deep inside the forests.
2006-05-07 - Thrissur, India.
Kerala is celebrating Thrissur Pooram on Sunday. It is one of the biggest temple festivals in the state. The two-century-old festival is also known as Thrissur Pooram named after the place where it is held. Pooram is marked by a spectacular procession of elephants and percussion performances called panja-vadiam. Close to 200 artists will take part in the festival this year.
2006-04-29 - Bhubaneswar, India. The Hindu
The Orissa Government has turned a `mute spectator' to the unabated poaching of tuskers in the State for illegal ivory trade, Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) secretary Biswajit Mohanty said on Friday. He claimed that in the last 12 months as many as 14 elephants were killed in Orissa's forests. In April alone two elephants were shot dead, one at Chandaka and the other at Satkoshia Wildlife Sanctuaries, both considered as the ideal habitat for elephants in Orissa.
2006-04-05 - Cooch Behar, India.
A herd of wild elephants damaged 17 houses in areas adjacent to Kadambini Tea Estate and Kunjanagar Eco-Park in Dooars area of West Bengal, a senior Forest official said today. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Cooch Behar, M N Biswas said that wild elephants came from Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary and ransacked 17 houses on Tuesday night.
2006-03-06 - SAKHIGOPAL, India. Prafulla Das
A wild elephant, which was caught and chained after it strayed into Biraramachandrapur village in Orissa, is under severe stress. With the authorities clueless on how to handle the pachyderm, its return to the forest seems difficult. The 30-year-old tusker covered about 60 km from the Chandaka forest, near Bhubaneswar, crossing several villages, before straying into Sakhigopal.
2006-03-01 - PURI, India.
Wild elephants killed two persons and injured one today in Biraramachandrapur village near Sakhigopal. They were heading for the paddy fields. To their shock, they found two elephants moving in the area and ran for cover. Two of them stumbled and fell as the agitated elephants advanced towards them. Bulu Bhoi and Buddhia were killed as they stumbled and fell and the animals trampled them.
2006-02-24 - Mysore, India.
Three employees of Mysore Zoo have been dismissed from service for their alleged role which resulted in the unnatural death of two elephants in the zoo in October 2003, a senior official said today. The dismissal was ordered after an inquiry by a retired civil judge, the Zoo Executive Director, Manoj Kumar, said in a statement here.
2006-02-22 - Kolhapur, India.
Four elephants were found dead near Jelugude village in Chandgad tehsil of the district today. Police and forest sources said the death of the elephants was possibly because of their coming in contact with broken live electric wires lying in a field close to a minor irrigation project near the village. The incident came to light when the farmers went at the site for work and found the tuskers dead. They then informed the police and forest offcials about the tragedy.
2006-02-20 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Kerala Forest Minister A Sujanapal today said the government has taken stern action against cruelty to elephants. He told the State Assembly that the government was taking stern action under the Wildlife Proection Act of 1972 and Kerala Captive Elephant (Management and Maintenance) rules of 2003. According to a survey conducted in 2005, there were 5,135 wild elephants in Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi and Periyar Elephant Reserve Forests in the state.
2006-02-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The Kerala Government will start an elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottoor, near here, State Finance Minister Vakkom Purushothaman said today. The government will also be introducing a ''Gajaraja Award'' for the best domesticated elephant and separate awards given to the most caring owner and mahout, he said while presenting the Budget in the Assembly.
2006-02-08 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India. Don Sebastian
If pedantics have their way, captive elephants in Kerala would soon be deprived of their sex life. Citing ancient scriptures pertaining to elephant care, a handful of elephant lovers at least think that breeding elephants would spell doom for its owners. Experts beg to differ.
2006-02-07 - Sirsi, Karnataka, India.
Captive elephants in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have reason to smile as a scientific study to check its health is on, perhaps for the first time in the country. Based on the study, conducted by the Wildlife Protection and Rehabilitation Centre, Dehradun, and Health Assessment and Infectious Disease Screening of Captive Asian Elephants of Southern India Project, each owner would be given a 'Health Card', detailing the health condition of the jumbos.
2006-02-04 - Kolhapur, India. Sachin Diwan
Last Sunday, 60- year- old Umaji Lingappa Gurav was fatally assaulted by a wild elephant in Kaliwade village of Chandgad taluka —the third victim since last year. Around 14 villages in Chandgad are now infested by wild elephants that have created havoc in the lives of the villagers — earlier it was the bison menace that harrassed them.
2006-02-03 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
A 47-year-old man was gored to death by an elephant at Chirayinkeezhu early on Thursday morning. The incident occurred shortly after the conclusion of the festival at the Mukkaluvattam Devi temple, Puthukkari, Chirayinkeezhu. The man, who has been identified as Mani of Paravur, had gone near the elephant to receive the ‘thidambu’, which was handed down by the second mahout Udayakumar, Chirayinkeezhu police said.
2006-01-27 - Guwahati, India.
Elephant football match, catwalk and films shows are some of the few events of the hugely popular Kaziranga Elephant Festival-2006, the curtain of which will be opened on Sunday. Festival committee sources today said that Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and some of his cabinet colleagues like Rural Development minister Ripun Bora, Minister of Forests Pradyut Bordoloi would address during the festival.
2006-01-27 - Kochi, India.
Five leading elephant experts and 100 mahouts in Kerala will be honoured for the first time - and the latter will also get free insurance. Balakrishna Shenoy, vice president of Elephant Care, an NGO, told IANS: "The function is unique because this is being jointly organised by the Kerala forest department, the Elephant Owners Welfare Association and us." The event will take place Saturday.
2006-01-25 - Panaji, India.
A joint meeting of senior wildlife officials and experts from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa was held here to deliberate on ways to tackle the elephants' menace. The meeting, chaired by Goa Chief Secretary J K Dadoo, resolved to undertake a study on the habitat, migration and extent of damage caused by elephants in the three states, and evolve a joint action plan to tackle the same.
2006-01-18 - GUWAHATI, India.
A herd of wild elephants trampled to death a woman and three of her children, including a newborn, in Assam, a forest official said on Wednesday. The elephants entered Theldhala village in Dhubri district bordering Bangladesh, about 320 kilometers west of Assam's main city of Guwahati on Tuesday.
2006-01-17 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
The state capital witnessed a rare reception with the chief minister, a former chief minister and a minister among those attending the ceremonial welcome of Guruvayur Padmanabhan, the famed pachyderm who has held pride of place at the Guruvayur temple for over 50 years. Guruvayur Padmanabhan, the tallest tusker among all the elephants in Kerala temples, was making his first trip to the capital.
2006-01-14 - HOSUR, India.
The Hosur forest division has formed four special teams with adequate communication equipment to check elephant menace in the Denkanikotta forest region, according to District Forest Officer S Paulraj. The move comes in the wake of two farmers being trampled to death by elephants in separate incidents within a span of six days. The pachyderms also injured six persons, besides damaging crops worth several lakhs in Denkanikotta and Anchetty regions recently.
2006-01-13 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Ramesh Babu
It's going to be a feast fit for a king. And the guest list is just as impressive — ministers (three of them), royalty, movie stars and famous personalities. The star of the show: Padmanabhan, the elephant king of the Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayur. It's been 50 years now that Padmanabhan has been carrying the thidamabhu (miniature of the presiding deity). And on Sunday, Thiruvananthapuram will honour him with gold, silver and aana oottu (elephant feast).
2006-01-10 - Nilpara, W.Bengal, India.
Her diminutive frame seems hardly any match for a one-tonne jumbo but put her in front of any pachyderm and you know who's in command. At an ongoing training camp in West Bengal, mahouts are making use of Parboti Barua's inherent talents with the largest living mammal on earth. Popular as perhaps India's only woman mahout trainer, Barua is currently holding the reigns at a seven-day camp in the Nilpara range of the state's Cooch Behar Forest division.
2006-01-04 - NEW DELHI, India.
For an elephant, south India is the place to be. If it can sidestep poachers, there are good chunks of habitat and even better, 65% of the corridors which link these habitats and allow herds to move freely in protected areas or reserve forests. But in other parts of the country, its nomadic cousin is in trouble. India now has less than 30,000 elephants, most of them running out of space to feed and live in far away from the spotlight focused firmly on the tiger.
2005-12-31 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Kerala is still waiting for the central ministry of environment and forests to give the go-ahead for an international training centre for mahouts on the lines of similar ones in Thailand and Germany. The proposal for such a centre has been hanging fire for a year, says veteran elephant expert Jacob Cheeran. "It has been a longstanding demand for an international centre in India, similar to that in Thailand and Hamburg in Germany. Initially, it was to come up in Tamil Nadu but a year back this wa...
2005-12-29 - Theni, India.
In a bid to prevent wild elephants from damaging adjoining horticultural and agricultural fields near reserve forests in this district, the Tamil Nadu forest department is planning to raise elephant delicacies, including bamboo grass, in about 150 acres in the area. It was also planed to dig a two-km long ditch along the elephant path leading to the farms to divert them and prevent them from destroying crops, an official of the department told reporters here today.
2005-12-28 - DHARMAPURI, India.
Three farmers were injured when a herd of elephants chased them at Elumalmanthai in Pennagarm taluk on Tuesday. According to police, the elephants entered the farmlands at Elumalmanthai in the wee hours of Tuesday. The farmers chased the herd carrying fire torch and bursting crackers into the forest. But all of sudden, the pachyderms started chasing the farmers, injuring three persons - Shanmugam (40), Murugan (45) and Arumugam (35).
2005-12-25 - Assam, India. Jay Mazoomdaar
Manbahadur Vishwakarma is too soft-spoken a man for his profession. Sitting next to a pile of sickles, swords and kukris, the village blacksmith of Kalamati, in upper Assam, closes his eyes and touches his forehead before breaking into a muffled monotone: ‘‘Ganesh baba takes this alley to the village in the night. I peep through my door and pray: ‘Spare me and my hut, Ganesh baba, I never harmed you or anybody else’.’’ Till now, his prayers have been answer...
2005-12-21 - New Delhi, India. Gopal Sathe
Elephants at the Delhi Zoo are restless these days because of overcrowding, say zoo authorities. Zoo veterinarian Dr M Paneerselvam said the elephant enclosure has been facing a space crunch in the last two months as four elephants rescued from illegal ownership by the Wildlife Department have been transferred here.
2005-12-20 - Bangalore, India.
Researchers in India and from The Earth Institute at Columbia University have discovered that one of the few remaining populations of Asian elephants in India is actually two genetically distinct groups. The results of the study, which appear in the current issue of the journal Animal Conservation, could have far-reaching implications in conservation plans for the endangered elephants as well as other species on the Subcontinent.
2005-12-19 - Manas National Park, India.
Challenging the view that it is a trying task to control let alone train the earth's largest land mammal, Prabati Barua, an Assamese woman has been training elephants for the last decade at the Manas National Park in the state. Since her childhood, Parbati was interested in contributing to the cause of endangered elephants in some way. Today her childhood dream has come true. She is the only professional elephant trainer in her region and is eager to save the animal.
2005-12-14 - Jashipur, Orissa, India.
On Monday, 12 December, 64 kg of ivory and two motor cycles used by the ivory traders were seized and four people arrested by police at Jashipur in Mayurbhanj District of Orissa with the assistance of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. Two months ago, WPSI received information that a group of traders in Orissa had stockpiled the ivory. Subsequent investigations were passed on to the police that resulted in the seizure.
2005-12-13 - Sambalpur, India.
Dukhu Adabar (55) of Jharapada under Rairakhol police station, 80 km from here, died on Tuesday after being crushed by a herd of elephants. It is learnt that a number of elephants entered the village Jharapada. But villagers managed to drive them away with flames and fire crackers. The elephants returned without harming the villagers. However, on their way back to the nearby forest, they found Dukhu alone and crushed him to death.
2005-11-29 - Sonpur, India. Nick Jenkins
IFAW helped micro-chip 77 elephants at the fifth consecutive health camp for captive elephants in partnership with the Bihar Forest Department at Sonpur in the eastern state of Bihar. Between November 12th and 16th, captive elephants from the northern and eastern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam were brought to the five-day long event to be micro-chipped.
2005-10-23 - Coimbatore, India.
The annual rejuvenation camp for captive and temple elephants in Tamil Nadu would begin at Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in neighbouring Nilgiris District, from November 21. About 75 elephants were expected to take 'rest' in the camp at Theppakkadu, being organised by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) for the third year in a row, Forest department sources said here today.
2005-10-23 - RANCHI, India.
With shrinking forest cover and human encroachment of elephant habitat leading to increasing confrontations between man and pachyderm, the Jharkhand forest department has proposed the use of helicopters to deal with rampaging tuskers in the state. The state's forest officials admitted that they do not have the requisite means to tackle the elephants when they enter human settlements. Hence they have taken a cue from South Africa, where choppers are used to drive tuskers away when they stray into...
2005-10-22 - New Delhi, India.
Two young elephants, being kept illegally here for use in religious festivals and weddings, have been seized and shifted to Delhi zoo. Acting on information from the Wildlife protection Society of India (WPSI), the Department of Wildlife Preservation (Government of India) and the Delhi Wildlife Department jointly raided two elephant owners in Yamuna Pushta area.
2005-10-21 - DHARMAPURI, India.
Though the North-East monsoon has brought heavy rainfall in most parts of India, the Dharmapuri district still faces a drought situation. Even forest areas in Dharmapuri are faced with acute water scarcity. Elephants and leopards have been spotted straying into human habitats in search of food and water. A few days ago an elephant herd, which strayed into a farm land in Pennagaram taluk, had damaged the crops there. At Soolagiri in Krishnagiri district, a leopard reportedly attacked villagers an...
2005-10-19 - Angul, Orissa, India.
Sarat Pradhan of Burukina village finds it risky to venture out of his home after the sunset as a herd of elephants, not seen in five years, are on prowl in his village. This is the scenario in village Burukina and adjoining 5 villages situated in Samal-Pabitranagar areas in Angul district. All this attributed to the destruction of natural corridors of elephant population across the state, which compels the pachyderms to stray into human habitat areas, wildlife experts said.
2005-10-18 - Jaipur, India.
All have heard of Polo played astride horse. Recently, polo lovers of Jaipur organised a polo match between the two teams from Pakistan and Germany with players riding elephants instead of the customary horses. The participating members teams were from Lahore Polo Club of Pakistan and the Amby Valley of Germany. Another interesting aspect of the event was that the Pakistan team comprised of three male players who vied with three female counterparts from Germany.
2005-10-18 - Jharkhand, India.
Tree houses build on the top of strong, bushy trees with lush green pastures as the surrounding. This is neither a lavish spa center nor a page from the cartoon strip Phantom. This is the newest addition to Basadera village in west Singhbhum district of Jharkhand where tribals have moved in these houses to escape the menace of elephants. Elephants have recently been straying into the village in search of food and have been on a destruction spree, forcing villagers to build such tree houses to sa...
2005-10-17 - HOSUR, India.
Two watchtowers had been set up on top of the hills of Sanjeevapuram and Erimalai in the Dharmapuri forest region recently to monitor the movement of elephants. At the Wildlife Week celebrations in Dharmapuri on Saturday, Information and Publicity Minister K P Anbazhagan said the towers had been constructed at a cost of Rs 3 lakh.
2005-10-15 - Jaipur, India. Lokendra Singh
Tourists visiting Jaipur, which has the reputation of being a princely state, are irked over the shortages of elephants in the area, especially at a time when the elephant ride at prominent tourist spots in Rajasthan has been restored by the state government. Tourists gathering in the “Pink City†to enjoy an elephant ride, expressed their deep annoyance over the dilly-dallying attitude of the authorities, who had suspended elephant rides 20 days ago.
2005-10-10 - RANCHI, India.
The conflict between human beings and elephants has killed a large number of men and elephants in Jharkhand. According to official data, 63 elephants have died in the last four years. Elephants have also wreaked havoc, killing hundreds of people. Eleven elephants died in 2001-02 and 18 in 2002-03. This figure rose to 20 in 2003-04 and came down to 10 in 2004-05. Till August in the current year, four elephants have died.
2005-10-07 - Chhattisgarh, India. Lemru Chhattisgarh
Faced with the problem of elephant intrusions from neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Orissa, the Chhattisgarh government is considering providing a natural habitat for pachyderms in the forests near here in Korba district. About 100 odd elephants, which strayed into the state in search of food and water, have unleashed terror in about 132 villages spread over Jashpur, Raigarh, Sarguja and Korba districts and the state government's efforts to check the elephant menace has been in vain for many...
2005-10-06 - Madurai, India.
A group of 50 elephants, which were send in to the deep forests returned last evening to the Ayakudi area near Palani Hills in Didigul District. The elephants, which caused extensive damage to crops, were sent to the forest along with trained elephants last week. Forest officials said the elephants killed three farmers within 15 days when they attempted drive them away from the fields. They said the elephants damaged crops and trees worth about Rs one crore.
2005-10-05 - Guruvayur, India.
A colourful parade of elephants and a special feast were held here on the occasion of World Elephants' Day on Tuesday, while animal rights groups appealed to owners and mahouts to care for the animals. About 40 pachyderms led by Gajaratnam Padmnabhan marched from the 'Manjulaal' at the eastern corridor of the Sri Krishna temple to the statue of legendary tusker Guruvayur Kesavan to pay floral tributes.
2005-09-30 - Shankar Bennur, India.
Rehearsals for the grand Jamboo Savari have been intensified for the high-profile guests of Mysore Dasara - elephants. All 12 jumbos are undergoing training under the watchful eyes of mahouts, kavadis, forest personnel and officials of the veterinary department. The jumbos hold ‘mock march’ on the procession route twice a day. On an average, the jumbos travel 12 to 15 km a day in the form of ‘familiarisation exercise’.
2005-09-28 - Bankura, India.
With the onset of monsoon, the Dalma range migrants are back to strike the Bankura forests and villages. In three phases 69 wild elephants have reportedly reached Bankura in the past two weeks. The forest officials and the residents of villages falling under the coarse of journey of the elephants have further been struck with the return of the pachyderms.
2005-09-28 - Amber, Rajasthan, India. Lokendra Sing
The Rajasthan Government’s decision to ban elephant rides to the famous 16th century Amber Fort , has resulted in these pachyderms and their mahouts being without work. After a tourist escort was trampled to death by a visually-impaired elephant, the state’s tourism department stopped elephant rides to the fort. Till now, an elephant ride was seen as an integral part of a visit by tourists in Rajasthan. Elephant rides were introduced in 1953, and now, 120 of these animals have been left jobl...
2005-09-28 - Ranchi, India.
Wild elephants killed one person and injured two others in Dumritand village under Silli police station area, police said today. Jibar Ram Mahto (55) was attacked by a herd of wild elephants, which came from the nearby forest last morning. The pachyderms dashed him against the ground, killing him on the spot. The herd also attacked Arun and Sohrai of nearby Marankiri village. Both have been admitted to a local hospital.
2005-09-20 - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.
If you thought that the big kill was just for tusks, you are poorly initiated into the unfortunate world of captive elephants. For unscrupulous ‘trader owners’, killing captive elephants using the most inventive methods is the smartest way to extract lakhs by way of insurance money.
2005-09-20 - Mysore, India.
Karnataka is the first in the country to notify an Elephant Corridor and two of them are already in place including the Kanniyanpura Corridor near Moyar River at the Bandipur National Park and the Bekkattur Arabikere Corridor that connects the Kollegal Reserve Forest division to Billigiri Ranga Sanctuary, Malini Shankar tells us.
2005-09-19 - New Delhi, India.
Threat to pachyderm comes not only from poaching for ivory but also from rapid loss of its habitat. Saving the Asian Elephant - Hemendra Kothari, David Ferguson and Bittu Sahgal. Sanctuary Magazine together with DSP Merrill Lynch hosted an evening with American wildlife biologist David Ferguson to discuss the future of the Asian elephant in the country that worships the elephant God.
2005-09-19 - Jaipur, India.
In the wake of a tour guide being trampled to death by an elephant last week, Rajasthan has set up a committee to probe the causes of "unusual" behaviour of elephants that ferry tourists to the Amber Fort here. Thursday's incident - reportedly due to the animal's irritation at a camera flashlight and in which two Belgian tourists were also injured - sparked off safety fears at one of the three mightiest forts in and around Jaipur city.
2005-09-17 - Jaldapara (West Bengal), India.
India’s wildlife reserves plan to make elephants an integral part of eco-tourism to recover the whopping cost of maintaining them. On an average an elephant needs approximately 2,300 dollars annually for their upkeep. As elephants rescued from lumberyards and circuses add to the numbers, park authorities say they are left with no other option.
2005-09-16 - Jaipur, India.
In a startling revelation, a former tourist official Friday said that 20 of the 100-odd elephants engaged in carrying tourists to the famous Amber Fort near here are blind, leading to increasing cases of accidents. "It's shocking but 20 of the 117 elephants, ferrying tourists, are blind and one can easily imagine what a risky business it is," Daulat Singh Rajawat, former general secretary of Tourist Guide Federation of India, (TGFI) told a news conference here.
2005-09-15 - Jaipur, India.
An elephant trampled a man to death and injured two Belgian tourists seriously when it went out of control at Amber fort on the outskirts of this Rajasthan capital Thursday.Vinod Bambha, 45, the manager of a travel agency, was escorting tourists Whars Mausini, 74, and Louis Dominique, 49, who had come from Delhi, around the popular tourist site when the incident occurred.
2005-09-13 - Mysore, India. Sharath S. Srivatsa
Preparations for the Dasara festivities and the famous "Jamboo Savari" (elephant parade) bring back painful memories for this soft-spoken mahout. Doddappaji, who once handled Drona, the elephant that carried the howdah, has refused to take part in the Dasara festivities after Drona was tragically electrocuted. A third generation mahout and an expert in taming wild elephants, Doddappaji is haunted by memories of Drona. After the death of Drona in 1998, he requested senior officials not to ask him...
2005-09-13 - Panaji, India.
The deputy conservator of forests (north), Mr R K Singh is keeping a watch over the north Goan villages and the forest area, even though three elephants disturbing the region for over past three months have already crossed the Goan border and are currently in the state of Maharashtra. Mr Singh told The Navhind Times that the chief conservator of forests, Mr A K Wahal had already instructed him to maintain a surveillance over North Goa, in this regard.
2005-09-10 - Nagarahole, India. Bhushan Datta
The early morning mist rising off the Kabini Reservoir gives the land a surreal look. The elephant has spent the night browsing on the juicy bamboo leaves and needs a drink of water before retreating into the cool depths of the forest. The rising sun soon bums away the last tendrils of mist, beginning another hot day at the Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka.
2005-09-07 - Kochi, India.
The Kerala High Court today directed the Travancore and Kochi Devaswom Boards to take necessary steps as required under the Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) rules, 2003 to protect the elephants under their control. A Division Bench comprising Justice R Bhaskaran and Justice J M James warned the Devaswom Boards that inaction in this regard would be viewed seriously and the Devaswom officers would be liable to answer for their lapses.
2005-09-07 - Mysore, India.
The 2005 edition of Dasara festival commencing next month in Mysore is expected to cost Rs 2 crore, Rs 10 lakh more than it cost last year. The State Government has sanctioned Rs 75 lakh for organising Dasara, while the organising officials have sought an additional Rs 75 lakh government support. The maiden programme - arrival of the elephants from their abode in the forests - was completed early this week. Half a dozen jumbos, including the howdah-carrier Balarama, received traditional royal we...
2005-09-05 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of Dasara elephants — Balarama, Bharatha, Gajendra, Kanti, Revathi and Prashanth — which arrived at the Palace this morning were accorded a traditional welcome by Labour and District In-charge Minister Tanveer Sait and dignitaries. Amidst chanting of vedic hymns, an arathi was performed as the majestic jumbos entered the Jayamarthanda gate of the Palace. A mixture of paddy, sugarcane and jaggery was fed to the elephants.
2005-09-04 - PALAKKAD, India.
Elephant doctors of Kerala are in great demand for treating sick pachyderms and tranquillising them when they go berserk in musth. They are becoming increasingly sought after around the globe. One of the doctors, Jacob Cheeran, will appear as an elephant expert in a case, involving the government of Australia which intended to import eight elephants from Thailand for their zoos and non governmental organisations which opposed the decision, before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
2005-08-15 - Jaipur, India. Qaiser Mohammad Ali
The Indian, Pakistani and English cricket teams, here for the Champions Trophy matches, have been invited to play elephant polo Monday - an entirely different ball game. Elephant polo, a traditional and elite sport, is quite popular in the state and particularly in the state capital. It is one of the several versions of polo played in India, the other being horse polo and cycle polo.
2005-08-10 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
India's wild elephant population has risen, if initial findings of an ongoing census are to be believed. "The census process is in its final stages and the sighting of more baby elephants is a strong indicator that when the final tally is arrived at, the population of wild elephants would have gone up," Jacob Cheeran, a steering committee member of Project Elephant, told IANS.
2005-08-08 - Panaji, India.
Trained elephants from Shimoga in Karnataka have arrived in Goa to help the state’s forest department to drive away wild elephants. The government of Goa has requisitioned the services of these five trained tuskers to drive away three wild elephants -- two females and one male calf—which have terrorised the villages coming under the sub-districts of Bardez and Bicholim taluka in the state.
2005-08-07 - Panaji, India.
Nearly a fortnight after the three wild elephants struck terror among the people in villages of Bardez and Bicholim taluka, the government has finally brought five trained tuskers called ‘Kunki’, along with ten ‘mahouts’ from Shimoga district of Karnataka to drive them away so that they can reach to their habitation in Maharashtra.
2005-08-07 - BICHOLIM, India.
Five trained elephants from Shimoga, Karnataka, arrived at Amthane-Bicholim on Sunday to drive away the wild elephants who have created havoc in the villages of Bicholim and Bardez. At around 2.30 pm, the kunkis (trained elephants) entered Pirna village in five trucks. The elephant trainers, later, walked them to Amthane.The ‘kunkis’ include two male and three female elephants, whose names are Mayur, Geeta, Sagar, Ranga and New Tusker.
2005-08-04 - Thrissur, India. Sanu George
He is 63 and looks rather frail, but Jacob Cheeran is one man the mammoth temple elephants of Kerala fear. For, the elephant expert is always around with tranquillisers to tame them when they experience 'mast' - a condition of physiological breakdown during which the pachyderms practically go berserk. On Tuesday, Cheeran and his team might just have written themselves into the record books by firing a tranquilliser shot at their 500th elephant here.
2005-08-02 - Panaji, India.
A team of Forest Department led by the assistant conservator of forest (ACF), Mr Pradeep Kundaikar from Ponda, today left for Shimoga in Karnataka to complete the formalities for getting five trained elephants ‘Kunki’ to deal with the wild tuskers in few villages of Bardez and Bicholim taluka.
2005-07-31 - Thrissur, India.
Spread of tuberculosis among captive elephants in Kerala is causing concern as eight pachyderms are reported to have died due to the disease last year. Overwork, lack of proper diet, unhygienic upkeep and absence of periodic health check-up are said to be the reasons for the spread of the disease. "The disease poses a serious threat to elephants. Last year there was an increase in tuberculosis cases," senior veterinarian and elephant expert Dr K C Panicker said.
2005-07-24 - BANGALORE, India.
In the wake of increased poaching incidents during monsoon, the forest department has decided to ban all forest trails during the monsoon. Till next order, all kinds of visits to forests by tourists, jungle trekking, core area hiking and other forest adventures, have been banned. The decision followed two encounters by the forest department with the poachers near Kalkere range in Bandipur tiger reserves, where six hard-core poachers from Kerala were arrested.
2005-07-23 - Bhubaneswar, India.
A crude bomb being carried in a lunch box to chase marauding elephants away from fields exploded in an Orissa village, killing one and injuring three. Five people from Kadua village in Dhenkanal district, 150 km from here, had gone to their fields on the outskirts of the village Friday night. To chase away elephants, one of them was carrying a bomb inside his lunchbox, which exploded, a district police official told IANS on telephone. While one man died instantly, three people were critically in...
2005-07-22 - Panaji, India.
The Chief Minister, Mr Pratapsing Rane today said that the Karnataka government has agreed to send five trained elephants to tame three wild elephants which had caused extensive damage to the plantations in Sal, Mencurem, Adval Pal, Latambarcem, Pirna and Nadora villages of Bicholim and Bardez talukas.
2005-07-19 - Baripada, India.
Two wild elephants from Chandavilla forest range of West Bengal's Midnapore district have sneaked into Orissa's Mayurbhanj district and caused depredations in several villages under Deuli forest range. According to Acting Field Director of STR (Simlipal Tiger Reserve) Jitendra Kumar, the two migrant elephants- one adult bull and an adult cow elephant- have damaged eight houses in the three villages located on their migration route.
2005-07-17 - Thrissur, India.
In a majestic spectacle, 47 elephants were today fed a sumptuous feast on the occasion of the annual 'Anayoottu' - feeding of elephants - on the premises of the Vadakkunnathan temple here today. Hundreds of devotees and others thronged the temple premises to witness the show since early morning as the jumbos, herded from different parts of the state, lined up to partake in the feast.
2005-07-13 - Panaji, India.
The deputy conservator of forests, Mr C D Singh today forwarded a proposal to the chief wildlife warden, Goa, requesting for hiring the services of Kunki elephants and organising joint operations with the forest departments of Goa and Maharashtra as well as the locals from both sides of the border, to guide the elephants which are currently disturbing the North Goa village of Nadora, back to their natural habitat.
2005-07-12 - BANKURA, India.
Three elephants went on a rampage in four villages near Bishnupur town last night. The forest officials of Panchet Soil Conservation Division rushed to the affected villages today to assess the extent of damages. The elephant herd had meanwhile fled to the jungle. The herd had entered Choukan village — about 12 km from Bishnupur town — about nine p.m last night.
2005-07-12 - Guruvayur, India.
A tusker's beauty is in its tusks but if it is lost, this “elephant dentist” has the answer. Sankaranarayanan, a mahout in the famous Sree Krishna temple, Guruvayoor in Thrissur district, has found a new way of adding beauty to a tusker by fixing artificial tusks. Balakrishnan, Lakshmanan, Rajasekharan and Chandrasekharan, and Umadevi, all jumbos of the Guruvayoor Devaswom, now have “duplicate tusks” affixed by Sankaranarayanan.
2005-07-09 - CHENNAI, India. P. Oppili
The month-old male calf elephant, rescued from Sathyamangalam Forest after it was abandoned by its mother, is not yet stable, P.C. Tyagi, Director, Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP), Vandalur, said here on Friday. Mr Tyagi said: "The animal is still bony but we have controlled the diarrhoea. It will take at least 15-20 days for its health to stabilise."
2005-07-01 - Chickmagalur, India.
The recently held census of elephants in the Bhadra reserve forest has thrown up some interesting facts. According the census report, the ratio of male and female is 1:2. That means the female population is twice that of the male population. Bhadra Wildlife Section, which completed the census process recently, has forwarded the report to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)in Bangalore.
2005-06-29 - Kaziranga, India. Bano Haralu
In Assam, the government has licensed stone quarrying which involves noisy blasting in a reserve forest area that serves as an elephant corridor near Kaziranga National Park. This has resulted in elephants using tea estates as thorough fare, leading to inevitable man animal conflict – angry wild elephants have been attacking the locals.
2005-06-27 - Guwahati, India.
Two people were trampled to death by wild elephants and a pachyderm was brutally speared to death by angry villagers in Assam, wildlife officials Monday said. A wildlife warden said six elephants entered the Letukajan tea garden in Golaghat district, about 300 km east of the state's main city of Guwahati, on Sunday.
2005-06-26 - TRIVANDRUM, India.
After the hectic festival schedule, it is time for rejuvenation for the elephants in Punnathur Elephant sanctuary, which is one of largest captive elephant homes in the world. Veterinary doctors are ready to take charge of the 62 elephants with a strict health care regime for 30 days from July 1. A major feature of the annual health care given during monsoon, when elephants are mostly indolent, is Kerala's traditional rejuvenative or restorative therapy.
2005-06-09 - Jaipur, India.
The city's elephants, especially those ferrying tourists, will soon be able to catch a breath and enjoy a leisurely bath in a pond that the state government plans to build near the Amber Fort. There are 105 elephants in the city, of which 50 are used to ferry tourists to and from the fort situated atop a hill on the outskirts of Rajasthan's historic capital.
2005-06-08 - New Delhi, India. Peter Foster
Conservationists are using military-style tactics to protect one of the world's largest Asian elephant populations. An early warning system which uses trip wires, smoke bombs and ropes smeared in a pungent form of chilli that can make even an elephant's eyes water, aims to deter the animals from entering villages in search of easy food. The project in Assam, north-east India, is partly funded by Chester Zoo.
2005-06-07 - Jorhat, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
Hundreds of people from several villages in upper Majuli island are spending sleepless nights guarding their ahu crop from a marauding herd of elephants. Ahu is the main crop for the islanders, harvested just before the floods which hit the island every year. It has turned into a do-or-die situation for the islanders to protect the crop from the pachyderms. The villagers have set up generators on the embankments to prevent the beasts from crossing over them and entering the fields at night. The ...
2005-06-06 - Guwahati, India.
An unsuspecting wild Asiatic elephant that had strayed onto a railway track was mowed down by a speeding passenger train in Assam, officials said Monday. A railway official said the accident took place Sunday near Patharkhula village in eastern Assam, about 160 km from the state's main city of Guwahati. "The Kamrup Express was travelling at a high speed when an adult elephant came on the track. The animal was sliced into two pieces and died almost instantly," B. Das, a railway official said.
2005-05-22 - Bandipur, India.
Wildlife guide Jayaram Harsha heaves a heavy sigh as he talks about his recent work counting male elephants in southern India. The numbers are down and, he fears, may one day be out. "It is alarming," says Harsha, who says poachers who still kill elephants for their ivory tusks may have decimated the population. This will be determined by the largest ever census of India's Asian elephant population which began recently.
2005-05-20 - Lucknow, India.
Alarmed by reports of the depleting tiger population in the country, Uttaranchal has begun a three-day census to count the elephants living in the state. The census was started on Thursday and would be completed by Saturday. The last census in 2003 estimated a population of 1,582 elephants in the state.
2005-05-15 - Thiruvananthapuram, India. Rosamma Jose
Appu the elephant, who had become closely identified as the celebrity mascot of the Delhi Asian Games in 1982, died at the age of 29 in Kerala’s famous temple town of Guruvayoor yesterday. The end, which came around 12 noon, put a closure to a decade of pain and suffering that the animal underwent since its tragic fall into a septic tank while being led to a temple festival in 1992.
2005-05-12 - KOCHI, India.
The state Forest Department is considering to create a genetic database of elephant and tiger population in the state to counter the threat of poaching and secure sufficient scientific evidence for court convictions. The department has held talks in this regard with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, the agency that premiered gathering of forensic evidence through DNA fingerprinting in the state.
2005-05-09 - Jaipur, India.
Jaipur's majestic elephants, living symbols of Rajasthan's royal past, will soon see better days. Despite giving joy rides to tourists who flock at the historic Amber fort everyday, little has been done so far to take care of the jumbos. But now a special shelter is being made to save them from Jaipur's scorching heat, and an 'Elephant Village' will be created to cater to all their needs.
2005-05-08 - HOSUR, India.
The Forest Department kickstarted its elephant census work in Dharmapuri and Hosur forest divisions on Friday. It is after a gap of three years that a synchronised elephant census covering all southern states is being initiated, a top official in the department said. This is essential to avoid duplication of animal numbers due to result of migration to the neighbouring states, he added. For the first time, nearly 25 NCC cadets also joined the department in its census work this yea...
2005-05-07 - New Delhi, India.
The estimated population of elephants in the country has shown an increase from 25,877 in 1997 to 26,413 in 2002 when the last census was carried out. Elephants have been included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 which prohibits their hunting and also trade in ivory. Export of ivory from the country is also banned. India is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international trade in ivory an...
2005-05-06 - TRIPUNITHURA, India.
The beautification of the tusks of elephants owned by the Cochin Devaswom Board is paving way for another controversy with the Forest Department registering a case against the Devaswom officials. Forest Department has registered a case against three persons, including the expert who beautified the tusks. “Action was taken against the officials because the Cochin Devaswom Board did not seek prior permission of the Forest Department to cut the tusks of the elephants,” said Kamaluddin, Kodanad ...
2005-04-30 - BANGALORE, India. Govind D. Belgaumkar
"Elephantine thanks to the PM"; "Veda saved from a cruel fate"; "Thank you, press." The banners said it all. Bangaloreans — schoolchildren and parents, as well as other animal-lovers — on Friday celebrated the decision of the Central Government to leave the six-year-old elephant, Veda, with its `family' in the Bannerghatta National Park here. The Centre had decided to gift Veda to Armenia to join the only male elephant in a zoo in that country. Animal-lovers here opposed it pointing at the c...
2005-04-28 - Orissa, India. Bibhuti Mishra
Orissa will soon use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to protect the state's elephants that are facing serious threat from poachers and human encroachments. By fitting GPS collars on elephants, experts will be able to track their movements, identify encroachments and monitor the movement of poachers too, officials of the Wildlife department said. The initiative is being funded by the Centre and will cover the Mayurbhanj elephant reserve, which includes the Similipal Tiger Reserve. Similipal i...
2005-04-25 - Siliguri, India.
The West Bengal Police have arrested one person and recovered six pieces of ivory worth more than 8,000 dollars from him. Bhushan Roy was arrested when police sent a decoy team to strike a deal on the outskirts of Siliguri town in Darjeeling district. Police said ivory pieces weighed 7.9 kilograms and would fetch more than 8,000 dollars in the international market.
2005-04-25 - Assam, India.
Fifty elephants in colourful velvet robes and tinkle anklets marched into a remote village here at the launch of a week-long festival, aimed at ending conflict between the animals and locals. Lumbering their way into an open field, the elephants raised their trunks and their khaki-clad mahouts waved silk flags to salute hundreds of visitors at the festival.
2005-04-15 - Kollam, India. Ignatius Pereira
The 64-year-old tusker was adjudged the most handsome among domesticated elephants in the State last year. If elephants are animals with good memory, the celebrated tusker Gajaratnam Guruvayur Padmanabhan will never forget his maiden visit to Kollam on Wednesday. The warm receptions accorded to the mammoth dignitary right through the 25 km journey from Karunagapally to the Asramam Sri Krishna Swamy Temple in Kollam were rousing enough much to the envy of at least some human celebrities. ...
2005-04-12 - Gauhati, India.
An elephant has gone berserk in a busy shopping area of a north-eastern Indian city, killing two people and injuring two others, a forest ranger said. People ran for their lives when its keeper lost control of the animal in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, forest guard Narayan Mahanta said.
2005-04-11 - Ranchi, India.
Jharkhand has hired two elephants trained in helping control wild tuskers that have killed 250 people in the state in over four years. A forest department official said the elephants, called 'kunkis', have been acquired from Assam for 25 years with their mahouts at Rs.350,000. The official said that two kunkis hired earlier for a year had been found to be very handy in trapping wild elephants, which stray into the villages, damage crops and houses and even kill people.
2005-04-11 - Kaziranga, India. NISHIT DHOLABHAI
This is a piece of news that will warm the cockles of every conservationist’s heart. An elephant census at the Kaziranga National Park has revealed an increase in the population of the species by nearly 200, no mean feat given the intensity of the man-animal conflict in Assam. The encouraging report comes close on the heels of a grand centenary bash at the park.
2005-04-05 - Singhbhum, India. Anupam Rana
For the first time, a scientific approach was adopted by the state forest and environment department when it conducted a census in the Singhbhum elephant reserve last month. Guidelines issued by the Government of India prompted the officials to carry out the survey. Chief wildlife warden U.R. Biswas, who was in Chaibasa for a foresters’ training programme, said the census was conducted at the lowest forest segment (sub-beat level) in each territorial forest division of the elephant reserve.
2005-04-04 - Jaipur, India. Anindita Ramaswamy, Sapa-dpa
If you own an elephant and don't know how to keep it happy, you could learn a few lessons from Parbati Barua, Asia's only female "mahout" (elephant handler). Did you know that elephants have a "sour tooth", with a particular liking for tamarind? Or that they enjoy a daily, hour-long massage, preferably in a circular motion with a pumice stone?
2005-03-27 - Jaipur, India.
Dozens of elephants in colourful velvet robes, jewellery and anklets marched with pride and aplomb as hundreds of awe-struck foreigners and locals cheered the majestic animals in Jaipur. The city is holding a month-long festival to promote tourism.
2005-03-17 - Jim Corbett National Park, India. India News
The world famous, Jim Corbett National Park, suffered a major loss when the park lost one of its Elephants after it was electrocuted. The elephant was killed due to electrocution on the outskirts of the national park. The elephants from the park venture out to the nearby fields, adjoining the national park, and at times destroy the crops of the villagers. This led to certain villagers putting up electrified fences to prevent the elephants from venturing into and des...
2005-03-07 - Bhopal, India. India News
Forest personnel and mahouts will try and understand the sexual behaviour of elephants in an exercise that officials hope will help them tame the animals. K.C. Pannikar, an expert with the Elephant Institute in Kerala's Thrissur district, will conduct the training March 19 to 24. Around 100 mahouts and officials from the Satpura, Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks of Madhya Pradesh will take part. "The workshop will teach the mahouts about elephant physiology and ...
2005-02-26 - DA PAM, India. AFP
Since his elephant Ramu died last week, a distraught Dharanidhar Bhumiz has been unable to sleep. “I didn’t have money to treat Ramu. I don’t feel like eating and while sleeping, Ramu continues to haunt me,” Bhumiz told AFP. Ramu was one of three bull elephants Bhumiz kept in the dusty village of Da Pam, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Guwahati, in northeastern India. He died after fracturing his hind leg and suffered a severe bout of a parasitic infection.
2005-02-23 - Guruvayur, India.
A pranky 18-year-old tusker breezed past four dozens of heavyweight competitors earlier this week to clinch Kerala's most popular annual pachyderm race in the temple town of Guruvayur. Krishna was cheered on by thousands of frenzied devotees and tourists, many of whom were simply mesmerised by the agility and frolic of the elephants who seemed to enjoy the race as much as them. The race marked the beginning of a 10-day festival in the temple dedicated to Lord Kris...
2005-02-21 - Guwahati, India.
If you have always wondered about the traditional art of catching and taming wild elephants, your curiosity is about to be satisfied. An elephant village, modelled on the ones in Thailand and Singapore, is taking shape on the outskirts of Rani forest reserve, a stone’s throw from Guwahati, to house tamed elephants and host tourists. Besides showcasing the traditional way of catching and taming wild elephants, the village will have centres to train mahouts and dome...
2005-02-21 - Guruvayur, India.
Krishna, the 18-year-old tusker offered to Sri Guruvayurappan by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, won the elephant race marking the start of the 10-day annual festival of the Sri Krishna Temple here. Krishna raced past six other competitors covering a distance of over one km as a big crowd of devotees and fans cheered and applauded the pachyderms vying for honour along the eastern road of the temple town. Starting from Manjulal, the elephants ran to the easte...
2005-02-17 - Kolhapur, India.
The entry of three elephants into the forest in Chandgad tehsil of this district on Monday, has caused anxiety and terror in the minds of the farmers of Tudiya village apprehending damage to their standing crops. Forest department officials said today that the elephants had strayed into the forest areas from the border areas of the neighbouring Karna-taka and have been wreaking havoc there. They have been monitoring the elephants’ move and will take necessary steps in this conne...
2005-02-16 - Kohora, India. Bano Haralu
In Kaziranga, celebrations to mark the park's 100 years are being dominated by serious issues like ways to prevent the man-elephant conflict (The state recorded 85 elephant killings by angry villagers and 96 human deaths by elephants between 1996 and 2004.) and putting an end to rhino poaching here. Home to the largest population of the endangered one horned rhino, Kaziranga National Park is facing serious environmental challenges.
2005-02-13 - Kaziranga, India. India News
A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant at a national park in Assam, dampening the spirit of the sanctuary's centenary celebrations. A wildlife warden said a female elephant suddenly went berserk at the Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam Saturday evening and trampled elephant keeper Gathia Munda, 35. "Two elephants and their keepers were taking rest beneath a tree inside the park when suddenly one of them attacked Munda. In seconds, the enraged elephan...
2005-02-12 - Ranchi , India. Indo-Asian News Service
Elephants are a major problem in some areas but they are also the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) election symbol - adding to a jumbo dilemma for the party as it campaigns in rural Jharkhand in areas terrorised by tusker attacks. And people in the affected areas of this state are driving away the BSP candidates just as they do the elephants. It all appears to be a cruel joke for the six contestants in Gumla and Simdega districts where people have been tackling tuskers rampaging their...
2005-02-12 - GUWAHATI, India.
Thousands of tourists flocked to a famed national park in India's northeastern state of Assam to watch a colourful elephant procession as part of the sanctuary's weeklong centenary celebrations. Thirty elephants, with visitors sitting atop, on Saturday marched along a two mile (1.25 mile) route inside Kaziranga National Park to the beat of drums and cymbals.
2005-02-09 - Kaziranga, India. PULLOCK DUTTA
The silhouette of the “elephant queen” juts out of the darkening sky in a unique settlement deep inside the Kaziranga National Park. Parbati Baruah, the lone woman elephant trainer in the country, is surveying the “mahout village” that will host one of the most-anticipated events of the park’s centenary celebrations. Speaking loudly over strains of Goalpariya folk songs in the background, she said the settlement at the Bagori range of the park would provide a must-see ca...
2005-02-02 - New Delhi, India. India News
How many times have you marvelled at a caparisoned Indian elephant without sparing a thought for its plight amid alien sights and sounds, far from its home in the wilderness? Now animal lover P. Balan has made a hard-hitting documentary highlighting the cruelty and hypocrisy towards the pachyderms, which are much loved even as they are subjected to unnerving human rituals. Balan, a programme executive at the All India Radio, Thrissur, in his Malayalam film "The 18t...
2005-01-31 - Bangalore, India. Born Free Foundation
Born Free Foundation, the internationally recognised wildlife and animal welfare charity today expressed deep reservations concerning the proposed gift of a young Asian elephant from India to the Republic of Armenia. According to information received by the Foundation, the animal is due to leave Bangalore in southern India and is destined for Yerevan Zoo in Armenia. The exchange is in the form of a diplomatic gift consigned by the Prime Minister of India to his counter-part in Arm...
2005-01-29 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
A railway court has imposed a fine of Rs 1500 on a mahout for taking a tusker along the rail track as a short-cut to a temple near Perumon in Kollam district. The court at Kollam imposed the fine on the mahout for marching the elephant through the track endangering the safety of railways as well as the public, a divisional railway release said here today.
2005-01-29 - Kaziranga, India. India News
Mangal Karmakar may not have played football at the highest level, but he is busy training an "elephantine" team for a match at a famed wildlife sanctuary in Assam. The players are all bubbling with enthusiasm - they are all pachyderms after all! They are undergoing regular drills and practice sessions under the watchful eyes of coach Karmakar inside the Kaziranga National Park in eastern Assam.
2005-01-21 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Pygmy elephants in Kerala? Unlikely, says an expert disputing the claims of two people that they sighted such pachyderms in a state forest. Jacob Cheeran, one of India's foremost elephant experts, doubts the possibility of pygmy elephants being spotted near a wildlife forest at Peppara in the capital district. The claim was made by wildlife photographer Sali Palode and a local tribesman, Mannan, who said they saw a group of five elephants, all small in size but look...
2005-01-09 - New Delhi, India. Prerna Singh Bindra
Much before first light, tourists at Khao Lak resort in Thailand were woken up by wails. When they tumbled out in the bitter cold dawn of December 26, they were confronted by the strange sight of agitated elephants, trumpeting. Crying, insist the mahouts, who had never seen the pachyderms behave such. The elephants ran, hurrying, for higher ground and confused, the people followed.
2005-01-06 - Siliguri, India.
A 40-year-old female elephant was found dead in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, which is situated in the outskirts of Siliguri in Dargeeling district. According to post mortem conducted, the elephant died due to a pathological disorder, which rules out the possibility of it being the victim of a hunting spree.
2005-01-06 - Kaziranga, India. India News
After the killer tsunami wreaked havoc in most South Asian tourist destinations, foreign and domestic visitors in their hundreds have been flocking to a wildlife sanctuary in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said. Authorities at the internationally renowned Kaziranga National Park said they were unable to cope with the sudden surge in tourist flow to the sanctuary that is home to the endangered one-horned Indian rhinoceros.
2004-12-27 - Jashpur (Chattisgarh), India. India News
Several villagers in the Jashpur district of Chhatisgarh were rendered homeless when wild elephants created havoc and caused widespread damage recently. Only rubble remained after a dozen wild elephants created havoc, and the villagers had to abandon their homes in fear of their lives. The terror stricken villagers are now taking shelter in nearby villages, with some of them staying in open lands and others living in a cluttered room.
2004-12-07 - Khurda, Orissa, India. Sampad Mahapatra, NDTV.com
There was panic in the district town of Khurda, as a herd of wild elephants from the nearby Chandka sanctuary strayed into paddy fields. Khurda is barely 25 kilometres away from Bhubaneswar. The herd of elephants caused massive damage to the standing paddy crop. Worse still, the crowd that gathered on the spot obstructed the escape route for the elephants.
2004-11-27 - New Guwahati, India. Bano Haralu, NDTV.com
The callous manner in which four elephants were being transported out of Assam comes as a shocking instance of negligence. Especially for a state that has an Elephant Festival listed on its official calendar of events. For the last four days, the elephants were crammed in a parcel van parked at the railyard in New Guwahati. They were finally rescued by the railway police.
2004-11-26 - Guwahati, India.
Dispur today ordered a probe into allegations that four elephants, seized at the Guwahati railway station yesterday, were being cruelly treated. They were being taken to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The state government has also asked the forest department to look into allegations that the city was becoming a major transit point for smuggling of wildlife from the region, sources said.
2004-11-25 - GUWAHATI, India.
A Task Force will be constituted in Assam to suggest ways to preserve the elephant habitat with a view to reducing the ever-increasing man-elephant conflict, protection of endangered species and other wildlife issues.
2004-11-22 - Uttara Kannada, India. The Hindu
A herd of 12 elephants and a calf are causing havoc in Mundgod taluk in Uttara Kannada district. The elephants are wandering in Byanalli, Talakeri, Hanumpaur, Kurli, and Gunjavati forest areas. The Assistant Conservator of Forests, K.S. Naik, said that 85 cases of crop destruction had been reported. The loss had been estimated at around Rs. 3 lakhs. The forest staff and the villagers were trying to scare the elephan...
2004-11-19 - New Delhi, India. The Hindu
The Supreme Court today directed the Project Elephant Director to take note of the death of 77 pachyderms in the Nagerhole area of Karnataka between April and October this year and take remedial measures to prevent its recurrence.
2004-11-18 - Panaji, India. New kerala.com
Herds of wild elephants, straying into areas bordering Goa lured by the sugarcane crops and water reserves, are causing havoc to villages and residents have urged that the pachyderms be relocated to sanctuaries. Villagers living along the Maharashtra-Goa border areas have started using torches and sticks to frighten the elephants that trample crops, the only source of livelihood for most people.
2004-11-15 - Chhattisgarh, India. Central Chronicle
It was a sight straight out from the Jatak tales. An elephant crushes the wall of a well to rescue his pachyderm companions. Four wild elephants had accidentally fallen into a well while they were straying in Tendugudi village near Pathalgaon yesterday. One else of their group who was standing nearby ealised the seriousness of the situation and started pushing the wall of the well with his feet.
2004-11-14 - GAUHATI, India. Wasbir Hussain, The Associated Press
Wild elephant herds have been terrorizing India's remote northeast, killing people, flattening houses and even guzzling local rice-beer supplies, prompting villagers to retaliate against the pachyderms with firecrackers and bonfires. With an estimated 5,000 elephants, Assam state has the largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants in India, said M.C. Malakar, Assam's chief wildlife warden.
2004-11-14 - Ranchi, India. New kerala.com
The recovery of 50 kg of ivory from a house in Jharkhand has led forest department officials to fear that ivory smuggling in the state is continuing on a large scale. Ranchi police raided a house in Khuti sub division, 30 km from the state capital, and recovered four pieces of ivory weighing 50 kg and arrested the son of a retired army man Saturday.
2004-10-27 - Mysore, India.
The serial death of animals in the Mysore Zoo, which claimed another elephant Komala on Oct. 22 that was about to leave for Armenia, has taken a curious turn with the employees blaming the veterinary doctors in the Zoo for the deaths.
2004-10-27 - Mysore, India. Mysore Star
A shocking revelation that the female elephant Komala, which died in Mysore Zoo on Oct. 22, was given a kilogram of baking soda, a little while before it died, was made by the Zoo employees themselves who were witness to the incident.
2004-10-27 - Marongi, Guwahati, India.
Drunken wild elephants trampled to death three people and injured two in a tribal village in India's north-eastern state of Assam, wildlife officials said today.
2004-10-25 - Mysore, India. Habib Beary, BBC
Komala was a darling of one of India's oldest zoos. But the seven-year-old elephant calf died in agony after what officials at Msyore zoo in southern India are calling a conspiracy by insiders. They suspect she could be the latest victim of poisoning by disgruntled employees, and, perhaps, a persistent campaign to discredit the zoo for reasons unknown.
2004-10-25 - London, India. Hollywood News
Veteran Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn is reportedly on a trip to India to make a film on elephants. The Oscar-winning actress, who has already made a documentary titled "In the Wild", about saving elephants in 1966, is now being accompanied by Kurt Russell's son, Boston Russell, on the trip to India.
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.
2004-10-23 - Mysore, India. India News
People in Mysore today took out a colourful procession to celebrate the Hindu festival of Dassera(Dussehra). Dussehra was celebrated on Friday in most parts of the country according to the Hindu calendar. However, the royal Mysore Dussehra, unique for its procession of folk dancers and caparisoned elephants, is keenly awaited.
2004-10-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Ranjit Devraj
India's most notorious bandit and king elephant poacher, Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, might be history after he was shot dead by police on Monday. But conservationists still remain sceptical on whether the illegal ivory trade can be stemmed in the country, while a leading human rights group has called for an inquiry into his killing.
2004-10-18 - MADRAS, Tamil Nadu, India. AP
India's most wanted bandit, accused of murdering police officers, killing over 130 innocent people and 2,000 elephants and smuggling millions of dollars of illegal sandalwood and ivory, was killed Monday night in a jungle shootout with police, an officer said. Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, who had eluded police for three decades, and three other suspects were shot to death in a 20-minute gunbattle with a special police task force just before midnight, in a jungle forest, said K. Sent...
2004-10-18 - Mysore, India.
The majestic Balarama, 46, will be leading the elephant contingent in the Dasara celebrations this October. He is already in town along with five other elephants, catching the admiring attention of the passers-by while on his routine walk every day morning and evening on the traditional Vijaya Dasami procession route in Mysore.
2004-10-18 - Kerala, India. K.S. Sudhi, The Hindu
THE FORESTS and Wildlife Department has taken a leaf out of the song `Friends of the Elephant', for redefining and re-inventing the relationship between the mightiest animal and man. It is in the process of doing this that the Department has declared October 4 as Elephant Day for the first time and initiated steps to bring in focus the need for creating a new relation between the animal and man.
2004-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Sapa-DPA
The only male elephant in Armenia's zoo will get an Indian female companion this week, a news report said on Wednesday. Armenian officials had asked the Indian government for a female pachyderm in 1999, for its sole male elephant originally from Moscow. Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee promised them an elephant during a visit to Armenia last year.
2004-10-13 - Thrissur, India. Indo-Asian News Service
He is a vet, a dentist, a mahout and a sculptor all rolled into one - and Sankaranarayanan needs every one of those skills when he carves out tusks from softwood and fits them on elephants with nuts and bolts. A mahout by profession, who has been working for the past 35 years with the famous Guruvayoor temple trust in southern India that owns 69 captive elephants, started on this particular job only eight years ago.
2004-10-13 - Coimbatore, India. V.S.Palaniappan, The Hindu
It was curtains down for the weeklong wildlife celebrations. The Coimbatore territorial forest division chose to celebrate the event in an unusual manner mobilising the school students to make them realise the importance of flora and fauna.
2004-10-12 - Mysore, India. Deccan Herald
You might enjoy dasara but not these elephants, says RAGHUPATHY K P When dasara begins, it is the elephants that attract the crowd. People who come to witness the ‘Jambu Sawari’ are enthralled by the decorated elephants. And the legendary Balarama, a majestic animal which carries the golden howdah gets special attention.
2004-10-10 - PATHANAMTHITTA, India.
A 17-year-old mahout, Krishnakumar alias Sreekumar of Elavumthitta near Aranmula, was crushed to death by a domesticated elephant at Elavumthitta this forenoon. According to eyewitnesses, the pachyderm attacked the mahout without any provocation and his brain was smashed when he was fatally crushed against a wayside wall.
2004-10-08 - DOOMDOOMA, India. Khaleej Times (Reuters)
The phone rang, as Dinesh Choudhury was finishing dinner. A rogue elephant was on the loose in the jungles of northeastern India, and four people were already dead. Choudhury’s first move was to try to convince the tranquilliser team to make another attempt, but they had seen enough of Golap’s anger not to want to approach him again. “I found him after just 10 minutes and fired over his head,” he said later. “People were agitated, but I just pretended it was a miss.” O...
2004-10-07 - GUWAHATI, India. Simon Denyer, Reuters
It is an unexpected headache for the Indian army, an unlikely embarrassment for the government and an unwelcome challenge for the railways department. Elephants in India are on the rampage, coming into conflict with man ever more frequently and ever more dangerously. It is a battle the normally gentle animals seem destined to lose.
2004-10-06 - Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India.
NO MORNING line-up or rides for tourists into the jungles on their backs! It was Elephants Day, part of Wildlife Week celebrations, at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Topslip near Pollachi this Sunday, and the pachyderms were having a real holiday. The Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, T. Sekar, said that the elephants were brought to Topslip from their camps in Kozhikamudhi and Varagliyar tribal settlements.
2004-10-06 - Mysore, India. Star of Mysore
The Palace acquisition proceedings have resurfaced curiously amidst the brisk preparations for the Dasara festivities which may trigger many more controversies during this Dasara.
2004-10-05 - Ranchi, India. Indo-Asian News Service
Don't store liquor. Don't go out into the forests drunk. Don't worship elephants. And move only in groups at night. These are among a list of do's and don'ts brought out by the forest department of Jharkhand in a bid to check the growing cases of man-elephant conflict that have resulted in the deaths of over 300 villagers here in the last four years.
2004-10-04 - BHUBANESWAR, India.
Between man and animal, it is a conflict that is getting grimmer by the day. The more the human beings invade their habitations, the stronger becomes their resistance. And, same goes the retaliation from the man's side. As the State celebrates Wildlife Week, it is down to the basics for survival for both man and animal. Consider this. From 1998-99 to 2003-04, elephants killed more men than the other way round. In these six years, the pachyderms killed 228 human beings.
2004-09-21 - Hassan, Karnataka, India.
The Divisional Conservator of Forests, Hassan Division, S. Shekar, has said that the Government has given the green signal to catch and trans-locate two rogue elephants that are creating havoc in Alur, Sakleshpur and part of Arkalgud taluks.
2004-09-20 - Mysore, India.
The susipicion of a foul play in the deaths of zoo elephants Ganesha and Roopa has proved right. The laboratory reports have confirmed that the elephants were killed using a strong chemical poison (zinc phosphide). The two elephants, which died on September 4 and September 7 respectively, had acute haemorrhagic enteritis and respiratory distress because of the poison. Zinc phosphide is normally used to kill rodents and it is a cheap poison available in the market.
2004-09-19 - Ranchi, India. Indo-Asian News Service
Two elephants died when they came in contact with a high-voltage power line near this Jharkhand capital, following which a herd of elephants ran amok and damaged several houses and other properties. While roaming in the Torpa area, 40 km from Ranchi, an elephant died when its trunk touched an 11,000-volt electrical line. Another elephant came to its rescue and met the same fate.
2004-09-05 - Mysore, India.
The death of an elephant in the Mysore zoo on Saturday has shocked animal lovers and the zoo authorities here. Ganesha, who was 30 years old, was reported to be dull since Friday. The Executive Director of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Manoj Kumar, said the elephant was suffering from severe abdominal pain and responded to treatment initially. However, it died at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
2004-07-21 - SHIMOGA, India.
It was a day of celebration at the elephant camp at Sakrebylu, about 15 km from here, on Wednesday as an elephant calf was born within 15 days of another calf being born. Kaveri, a 69-year-old elephant, gave birth to a male calf this morning. It was the second delivery of Kaveri, the first one being in 1969.
2004-06-25 - CHENNAI, India. P. Oppili
A three-and-half-month-old elephant calf died at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, on Wednesday. The calf, Ramu, was rescued last month from the forest area in Amirthi near Vellore after his mother died.
2004-06-23 - Guwahati, India.
A goods carriage train hit a herd of elephants when they were crossing the railway line which passes through a dense forest area of Ajara on the outskirts of Guwahati, in the northeastern Indian states of Assam, resulting in the death of three elephants on Monday June 21, forest officials said.
2004-05-30 - Ernakulam, Kerala, India. New Kerala
Villagers in Jharkhand are a harried lot as they come under constant attacks by heards of wild elephants. According to official estimates nearly 29 people have been killed and many injured in the last two years in Ranchi district by wild elephants.
2004-05-29 - Kushalnagar, India.
A celebrity elephant is to undergo training in India after plantation owners kidnapped it for trampling over their crops. Harsha went on the rampage while leading a royal procession in Kushalnagar.
2004-03-24 - MYSORE, India. The Hindu
A dynamite concealed in fodder exploded in the mouth of an elephant calf, ripping its face apart and leaving the hapless creature writhing in agony until it died on Wednesday.
2004-02-04 - Delhi, India. Adam Mynott BBC South Asia correspondent
India's captive elephants are stressed, unhappy and need therapy, according to the Wildlife Trust of India. They have called in an expert - a sort of "elephant-whisperer" - from the United States to help them.
2004-01-31 - Kaziranga, India.
Almost 100 elephants have taken part in a football game in India as part of an annual festival aimed at encouraging locals to protect the animals
2004-01-23 - Calcutta, India. Subir Bhaumik
Four wild elephants drunk on rice beer have been electrocuted in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya, wildlife officials report. The elephants are known to have a taste for rice beer brewed by tribal communities across north-east India. But this is the first time some of them have died after consuming the drink. A herd of about 20 to 25 elephants went on the rampage in a remote area in the West Garo Hills district earlier this week after getting high on the beer.
2004-01-23 - New Delhi, India. Prakriti Prasad
The Delhi Zoo is extending its hospitality to the elephants that carry bravery award winners in the Republic Day parade. Visitors to the zoo are greeted by these elephants, brought from all over Delhi and domesticated by their private owners, right at the entrance, where they are putting up in the scooter parking lot. Every morning, they are taken to Rajpath for their training.
2004-01-11 - Bhubaneswar, India. Jatindra Dash, Newkerala.com
A team of archaeologists has uncovered the remains of an elephant believed to be 500 years old from a fort in Orissa. The team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found the remains at the Barabati fort at Cuttack town, 26 km from here. The skeleton was found two metres below the surface during the excavation of the fort's 102 acres of land, said P.K. Dwibedi, in charge of the ASI's office here.
2003-12-05 - Attappady, India. The Hindu
A wild elephant was electrocuted at Thekkamukkiyur in Sholayur panchayat of Attappady today after it came into contact with an electric fencing put up by a farmer. Reports from Attappady said the cow elephant may have died due to the high voltage of current passed through the electric fencing directly from the main line.
2003-07-24 - Kerala, India.
Elephants employed by the state of Kerala in southern India are to be granted full retirement benefits at the age of 65.
2003-07-20 - Chennai, India.
Dr. V. Krishnamurthy was a forest veterinary officer who served the Government of Tamil Nadu for over three decades, primarily concentrating on the health care of both domestic and wild elephants. Dr. Krishmurthy or Doc K, as he was fondly called, resurrected captive elephant health care and management to levels that have not been seen in Asia for the most of the last century.
2003-02-10 - Ernakulam, Kerala, India.
Though the recent incidents in Kerala have put pachyderms in poor light, it is not an elephantine problem to make the animal fall in line, if the mahout knows its moods and showers affection, writes PRINCE FREDERICK.
2003-02-07 - KOLLAM, Kerala, India. Ignatius Pereira
The basic truth about elephants is that they can never be fully domesticated. The domesticated elephants always nurse a tendency to return to the wild and never return. Thus, they are wild though they appear tamed by obeying certain commands, according to Jacob V. Cheeran, a retired veterinary Professor,
2003-02-06 - Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Alarmed by the frequent instances of elephants running amok and goring mahouts to death, the Kerala government proposed to shortly come out with a set of rules on management and upkeep of captive elephants which will include penal provisions to check maltreatment of the animal. "This is for the first time in the country such rules are being framed, addressing a whole of range of issues relating to ownership, upkeep and welfare of elephants," E K Bharat Bhushan, secretary, forests ...
2003-01-13 - Guwahati, India.
MAHOUTS ride elephants decorated in traditional Indian garments during the Elephant Festival at Kaziranga National Park, about 220 km (125 miles) from Guwahati, the main city of the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Jan 11.
2003-01-09 - GUWAHATI, India. Barun Das Gupta, The Hindu
Assam will hold an Elephant Festival at Kaziranga on January 11 and 12. Over two hundred pachyderms have already arrived for the festival which will be attended by elephant experts from home and abroad.
2002-12-17 - Tinsukia, India.
Drunken elephants have trampled at least six people to death in the northeast Indian state of Assam, local officials say. Police said four of those killed were children. The herd of wild elephants stumbled across the supplies of homemade rice beer after they destroyed granaries in search of food. The incident happened near Tinsukia, 550 kilometres (344 miles) from the Assam capital, Guwahati.
2002-01-14 - Mysore, India.
The first batch of five elephants for participating in the Dasara procession, Jamboo Savari, has arrived in Mysore. The elephants led by the chief tusker, Balarama, are undergoing training with daily acclimatization march along the procession route - Palace to Bannimantap Parade Grounds. The 43-year-old Balarama had recently escaped into the forest in Nagarahole forest area after developing 'musth'.
2001-06-18 - MADURAI, India.
The she-elephant of the Meenakshi Sundereshwarar temple, which served the temple for more than five decades, died on Sunday night after a prolonged illness. The 70-year-old pachyderm, Meenakshi, was down with fever yesterday evening. The temple administration brought veterinary doctors to revive her. But despite their efforts, she failed to respond to the treatment. Old age and its associated symptoms of illness were said to be the main reason for the death.
2000-09-07 - Srinagar, India.
Indian geologists say they have unearthed the 50,000-year-old fossil of an elephant in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The fossil was discovered in a field of saffron at Gallander, east of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, by geology students who immediately called in experts.
1999-05-05 - Lucknow, India.
Despite the temptations of her favorite foods -- bananas, sugarcane and grass -- and the efforts of modern veterinary science, Damini, a 72-year-old elephant, died last Wednesday of a broken heart. After being confiscated from owners who were illegally transporting her, Damini was brought to the Prince of Wales Zoo in Lucknow, India, last year. She was alone for five months until September, when a pregnant younger elephant named Champakali joined her.
1997-07-07 - Palakkad, India. A Satish
Though jumbo-sized problems and risks are part of rearing elephants, for brothers M A Parameswaran and Haridas of Mangalamkunnu they are family pets. They have got 14 elephants, making them the largest individual owners in Kerala after the Guruvayur Devaswom. The duo are averse to deputing their jumbos for pulling logs of wood, usually done by female elephants. So only tuskers form part of their brigade. Of the 42 elephants with the Guruvayur Devaswom, only 33 are tuskers.
0000-00-00 - Angul, India. Sangram Ranjan Nath
- Darjeeling, India.
2024-07-10 - Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Zoo has confirmed that a third elephant has tested positive for a virus which has left two other elephants dead over the last ten days. Eight-year-old Avani and seven-year-old Zinda died from E...
2024-06-18 - Houston, United States. Houston Zoo
Tess, a 40-year-old Asian elephant at Houston Zoo, has been given the first-ever dose of an mRNA vaccine created by virologists at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) to prevent the deadly elephant endot...
2024-04-26 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late...
2024-04-02 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said ...
2024-03-23 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elepha...
2024-03-23 - Pretoria, South Africa.
In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbour...
2024-03-15 - , United States.
After weeks of voting and thousands of submissions, the Toledo Zoo has officially chosen the name of their precious baby elephant and we're personally thrilled about the news! Ladies and gentleman, Ki...
2024-03-09 - Tucson, United States.
A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf...
2024-03-04 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young...
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally...
2024-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands.
African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have thr...
2024-02-15 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presente...
2024-02-15 - Seoul, South Korea.
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered fr...
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zo...
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the ...
2024-01-27 - Koh Nhek, Cambodia.
Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environm...
2024-01-13 - Beijing, China.
A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, t...
2024-01-13 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year...
2024-01-11 - New York, United States.
In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, gr...
