Non-availability of veterinary doctors has been cited as one of the reasons for the death of the animal
The state forest department of Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra has been facing flak after death of a captured wild elephant. The elephant that was captured on February 15, 2015 died on April 10.
In a report published by Mumbai Mirror, Ramesh Kumar, deputy conservator of forests, Kolhapur division (under which Sindhudurg falls) has admitted that the authorities do not have 24/7 veterinary doctors to look after the captured elephants.
The forests of Sindhudurg are part of the elephant corridor joining the Western Ghats of Karnataka with Kolhapur in Maharashtra. Although the elephants sometimes stray out of the forest and enter surrounding villages, no major conflict was reported till 2003. But gradually, the elephants began to destroy crops and even kill residents at times. In the past decade, eight people have been killed in wild elephant attacks while 15 have been injured.
Very recently, the government had decided to capture the three wild elephants that were known to have become residents of the region and had introduced an initiative where tamed elephants were being used to capture the wild one.
The Mumbai Mirror report also says that intense heat (temperature in the range of 38-39 degree Celsius) was somewhere responsible for the casualty.
Read more about the conflict: Rogues tamed
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