(NP) Wounded tusker on warpath kills 11 in Nepal

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Wounded tusker on warpath kills 11 in Nepal

Sudeshna Sarkar, TNN 9 December 2009, 05:19pm IST

 

KATHMANDU: Dhanusha district in Nepal’s Terai plains, that celebrated the

wedding of Ram and Janaki last month with the arrival of tens of thousands of

pilgrims from India, is today living in fear of another visitor from the

southern neighbour – an adult male tusker that is on the warpath after being

attacked by villagers and has already trampled 11 people to death.

 

The elephant is likely to have come from the forests of Assam, following the

ancient route taken by its ancestors stretching from India to eastern Nepal to

the Terai forests in the south. After entering Nepal from the eastern tea garden

district of Jhapa, it is likely to have been wounded in an attack by villagers

with sharp weapons, which has caused it to run amok.

 

The first killing, police said, occurred on Nov 24 after it entered deeper into

Nepal and went to Udaypur district. It killed four people in the district in

three days, including two women and a seven-year-old child. Chased away by

villagers with stone-lelting and crackers, the enraged beast then plodded to

Sindhuli district, where it killed three men, including an 18-year-old boy who

tried to pray before the “Elephant God”, offering the charging pachyderm flowers

and a garland.

 

From Sindhuli, the tusker went to Dhanusha, where stunned villagers gave a

graphic description of the slaughter. Urmila Devi Mahato, a 45-year-old Dalit

woman, was collecting firewood in the Dovar forest when she ran into the

elephant and was trampled to death. The dead woman’s two sons and nephews jumped

into a nearby stream and were able to escape.

 

The elephant then charged into the Chisapani forest where it killed three

members of the same family, also collecting firewood in the forest. However,

according to the Nagarik daily, a woman and her daughter had a miraculous

escape. Lilamaya Bhujel, who had her four-year-old daughter Devika with her,

fainted at the spot. The daily, quoting eyewitnesses, said the elephant then

picked up Devika with his trunk, sniffed her and then carefully put her down

again unharmed.

 

“We need to educate villagers,” said Santosh Nepal of World Wildlife Fund, who

had spent two years in Sindhuli. “They tend to irritate the elephants and attack

them to make them go away. An injured elephant mostly turns rogue and begins to

counterattack indiscriminately. We have to teach them to let the animals go

their own route unhindered.”

 

Yadav Dhital, forest officer at Sindhuli, said the rogue elephant won’t be

killed since the elephant is a protected species in Nepal. Currently, there are

about 120 wild elephants in Nepal, whose habitats are in the forests of Parsa,

Bardiya, Chitwan and Kanchanpur in the Terai.

 

Since this year, after increasing deaths caused by straying elephants, Nepal’s

government has initiated the policy of offering compensation to the victim’s

family. “However, the compensation offered – NRS 1 lakh 50,000 – is too meagre,”

says Nepal. The WWF feels that if the villagers are offered realistic

compensation for the crops or property destroyed by the straying herds, they

would be persuaded not to attack the visitors. WWF is proposing that Nepal

government hold talks with India to set up such a fund.

 

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Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org