Three elephants near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh killed two people and injured one on Saturday, according to officials. The forest department was tracking the elephants after ten others had died in the area in the previous three days.
Officials say that 50-year-old Ramratan Yadav was slain while responding to nature’s call in Devra hamlet, around 10 kilometers from BTR. at the meantime, Malu Sahu (32) was injured at Banka, just outside the reserve, and Bhairav Kol (35) was slain at Brahe village, which is within the BTR’s buffer zone.
Anything definitive regarding whether the elephants belong to the unfortunate herd of ten will be determined “after collection of data,” according to Umaria Divisional Forest Officer Vivek Singh.
Although they are not suspected of belonging to this herd, forest officials stated that they might have been a part of another herd that arrived at the location where the elephants perished in pursuit of millets, according to sources.
Two days earlier, a herd of twenty-five elephants appeared in search of kodo millets and were driven off. They had started into the central area after crossing the street. Nonetheless, it’s possible that three of them were isolated from the group and contributed to the deaths (of two individuals).
Four dead wild elephants were discovered in Sankhani and Bakeli, which are part of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve’s (BTR) Khitoli area, on October 29. Two more died on October 31.
Large amounts of kodo millets were discovered in their stomachs during their post-mortem examination. It discovered some toxicity as well.
A senior forest department official stated on Friday that samples taken from the elephant and the surrounding fields would be forwarded to the forensic lab in MP in Sagar and the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Izatnagar in UP’s Bareli.
In addition, the killings are being investigated by MP’s state tiger strike force and the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has instructed state Forest Force Head Aseem Shrivastava, MP’s Minister of State for Forests Dileep Ahirwar, and Additional Chief Secretary (forest) Ashok Barnwal to travel to Umaria district and provide a report on the elephant-caused deaths. Additionally, the government has promised the surviving family members Rs 8 lakh in compensation.
