60-year-old wild elephant electrocuted in Dhemaji village after entering paddy barn

Guwahati, June 5: In yet another tragic reminder of the growing human-elephant conflict in Assam, a 60-year-old wild elephant was electrocuted to death in the early hours of Friday after apparently coming into contact with a live electric wire at Luhijan village under Jonai in Dhemaji district.

Local residents claimed that the elephant entered the village around 2 am and went near a paddy barn owned by a farmer in search of food. The elephant, while trying to consume the stored paddy, is believed to have come in contact with a live wire and died on the spot.

Following information from locals, forest officials reached the site and recovered the dead elephant’s carcass near the paddy barn. A post-mortem would be carried out before the elephant was buried following established procedure.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the elephant had been roaming in and around Poba Reserve Forest and nearby villages for the past several days, much to the concern of both residents and the forest department.

The forest department has initiated an investigation to ascertain the precise circumstances of the death and whether the live wire was part of an official electricity connection or an illegally arranged fence for crop protection.

The death has once again brought into focus the increasing instances of elephant electrocution in Assam, where shrinking habitats and frequent movement of wild elephants into human settlements continue to fuel conflict. Wildlife experts have repeatedly stressed the need for safer and more effective crop-protection measures to prevent such avoidable losses, both of human livelihoods and the state’s iconic wildlife.

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