Coimbatore : In an attempt to help scavengers and other wild animals, forest officials of the Coimbatore Forest Division have decided to leave behind the electrocuted wild elephant’s carcass inside the Reserve forest at Nellithurai, in the Mettupalayam Range here.
Coimbatore : In an attempt to help scavengers and other wild animals, forest officials of the Coimbatore Forest Division have decided to leave behind the electrocuted wild elephant’s carcass inside the Reserve forest at Nellithurai, in the Mettupalayam Range here. The decision was made after veterinarians cleared the carcass as being palatable by wild animals.
The elephant aged around 40 was electrocuted by a power line after an areca nut tree that it had pushed had dragged down the power line along with it, in a private farm about 800 m away from the Reserve forest. The elephant died on the spot when the cable fell on it. The tusker was trying to break a solar fence by pushing over the areca nut tree on it.
After the autopsy was done, it was initially decided to leave the carcass in a forested landscape where the vulture population was more and talks were held with officials from the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) regarding this While the carcass was loaded on a truck around evening, technical issues kept them from moving further, after which it was decided not to move the animal as far as STR.
Officials then decided to leave the carcass inside the nearby reserve where it can feed wild animals, especially scavengers. It would have been a first-of-its-kind attempt by the Coimbatore Forest Division had the carcass been taken to STR, considering the distance. However, it was not to be, due to technical and legal issues. The decision was made to leave behind the carcass in Nellithurai Reserve.
Veterinary Officer N S Manohar said that despite being electrocuted, the carcass of the animal will not affect animals that feed on it. “We should not allow a carcass to be fed on if the animal was affected by any diseases like anthrax,” he said. Meanwhile, activists have called for a convergence of interests from different departments in the conservation of elephants.
“It is high time that the Forest Department and officials from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) come to a consensus regarding the passing of power cables inside the Reserve forest,” said S Chandrasekar, Secretary of the Association for Conservation of Indian Raptors. Claiming that this was the third case of male elephants being electrocuted by power lines in less than a year in the same region, he further added that such deaths were bringing down the male-female ratio inside the reserve, creating an imbalance in the population.
“While low lying cables should be checked and changed before a disaster like Theni could occur here, loose cables should be strengthened,” he reiterated. Reacting to the issue, District Forest Officer D Venkatesh said that TANGEDCO officials should ensure cables are raised 15 feet above the ground to prevent wild animals from coming into contact with the power lines.