Centre seeks detailed report on brutal killing of elephant in West Bengal
An elephant died in Jhargram in West Bengal after mobs pierced her with a flaming spear hours after another pachyderm allegedly killed a resident on the outskirts of the town
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has sought a detailed report from the chief wildlife warden (CWLW) of West Bengal regarding the killing of an adult female elephant after her back was pierced with a burning spear on August 15, senior officials said on Wednesday.
“ We have sought a detailed report. Chief Wildlife Warden has informed about the death of a person and a female elephant. Remaining elephants could get connected with main herd. CWLW has informed that two offenders have been arrested,” officials added.
The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) has demanded that the West Bengal government must immediately constitute an inquiry into the matter.
HT reported on Tuesday that the elephant died in Jhargram in West Bengal after mobs pierced her with a flaming spear hours after another pachyderm allegedly killed a resident on the outskirts of the town, said animal rights groups, underscoring the escalating human-elephant conflict in the region and the complexities involved with controlling such situations. A hulla party (elephant chasers) was reportedly called by forest department to chase the herd. They were carrying flaming spears.
The WB forest department must immediately constitute a committee comprising experts on human-elephant conflict mitigation, including NGOs working on the ground in West Bengal and in other states where successful measures have been deployed, and other departments; and that WB must suspend all hulla committees until a fresh protocol, devised by experts with training for mitigation of conflict, is put into place, FIAPO demanded.
“Human-Elephant conflict, entirely because of bad policy, that ignores both the human and the animal interest — which can both co-exist, have turned the daily on ground elephant incursions into war like scenarios. It appears that now elephants and humans are at war with each other - and the recent brutal murder of the wild elephant, a gory, unfortunate reality that has left the state forest department, yet again, with blood on their hands,” said Alok Hisarwala, advocate, founder of the Centre for Research on Animal Rights, and FIAPO Trustee in a statement.
Hulla parties, which are controlled by the state forest departments, are supposed to use drums and other non-violent means to drive away elephants. “But in this case, the crowd threw flaming iron spears at the elephants, one of which pierced the elephant’s back. A video that is being widely circulated shows the elephant with the fiery spear sticking out of its back, in agony. In the video, a child is heard telling her father, “Please let her go; she is in pain.” The elephant died the next day of its wounds,” FIAPO said in a note.
In April 2023, another video had surfaced, again from South Bengal, showing a hulla party chasing away a herd of elephants by throwing burning torches, pointed spears, and by bursting crackers.
The use of the burning spear is in contempt of a 2018 Supreme Court order that specifically banned the use of spikes or spears. “The failure of the forest department to find humane solutions is resulting in the deaths of humans and elephants alike,” FIAPO has said adding that South Bengal is undoubtedly prone to extensive human and elephant conflict that is concerning. The 2018 Supreme Court order had acknowledged the difficulty of managing the conflict situation, given the topography of South Bengal, with its paddy fields and other crops that attract elephants. The apex court had directed that the close to 60% of positions lying vacant in the state forest department be filled so that the hulla parties could be managed by trained personnel.
The SC order had noted the concerns raised in the Guidelines for Management of Human Elephant Conflicts circulated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on October 6, 2017, that “anti-depredation squads (ADS)… require a high level of coordination between divisions. However, the manner in which it is often implemented, operations of ADS is not systematic and there is a lack of standard operating procedures. There is lot of chaos in activities of ADS, with participation of local mobs which reduces their effectiveness. Shots are sometimes fired in the ground near the elephants to keep them moving towards the forests. Elephants, including calves, are also poked with iron spears to drive them.” The events of August 15 have seen exactly these fears confirmed, FIAPO said.
The West Bengal forest department denied that hulla team members involved with them threw the spear at the female elephant.
“Forest department staff and members of the hulla party were on the ground. They couldn’t have inflicted such an injury on the elephant’s back, which was at least nine-feet high,” Debal Roy, West Bengal’s chief wildlife warden said on Monday.
Such a wound could have only been inflicted by someone who was standing on some roof-top or sitting on a tree, he said.
“Whoever has done it is a criminal and will be punished according to the Wildlife Protection Act. Efforts are on to identify and nab the person,” said Roy.