Elephant attacks claim 1,145 lives in Odisha over past ten years

Bhubaneswar, Sept 10: The Odisha Assembly on Tuesday was informed that at least 1,145 people have been killed in elephant attacks over the past decade. Forest, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia provided these figures in response to a question from Khurda MLA Prasanta Kumar Jagadev. The reported incidents occurred between the years 2013-14 and 2023-24.

The Minister also revealed that 41 elephants were killed by poachers during this period, while 719 others died from various causes. In a separate response to Jharsuguda MLA Tankadhar Tripathy, Khuntia disclosed that at least 55 tigers, including seven Royal Bengal Tigers (RBT), have died across Odisha's forests over the last decade. Additionally, 48 leopards and seven Royal Bengal Tigers also perished between 2014-15 and 2023-24.

Among the tiger fatalities, 23 were attributed to poaching, 4 to electrocution, 2 to train accidents, 3 to road accidents, 6 to other causes such as drowning and infighting, 5 to illness, and 5 to old age. Seven Bengal tigers died in various forest divisions during the period. The Minister noted that no tiger census was conducted in Odisha in 2000, but the 2002 census, using the pugmark technique, recorded 173 tigers in the state.