Ignorance of its territorial limits cost a tusker its life when jawans of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) gunned the innocent animal down for straying into their territory from Murshidabad in West Bengal on Monday.
According to sources in the West Bengal Forest Department, BGB men fired several rounds at the hapless tusker, killing it on the spot. The carcass was then hurriedly buried by the troops. later, when a West Bengal wildlife team reached the border with tranquilizer guns to bring back the elephant, they learnt of the killing.
Sources said the male sub-adult elephant had entered Murshidabad from Dalma elephant sanctuary in Jharkhand, on April 17. However, it got separated from its herd and crossed Padma River from Nimtita village in Murshidabad and entered the Rajsahi district of Bangladesh, where it met its tragic end. The State forest department is trying to coordinate with the BGB through the Border Security Force to recover the carcass.
Sources said Project Elephant, which comes under the Environment Ministry, is still to receive any report regarding the incident. However, if the West Bengal Wildlife Department lodges a complaint with Project Elephant, it would take up the issue with the Bangladesh Government. On its part, the State forest department plans to lodge a complaint with Project Elephant at the earliest.
Experts working on man-elephant conflicts in the country said that elephants from Dalma have been entering South Bengal since the late 1980s. Over the years, the number of straying elephants has increased and so has the duration of stay in districts like Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia in West-Bengal, aggravating man-elephant conflicts.
This year, the problem took a new turn after the herd was blocked on the Odisha border, close to Keshorekha forest range in Midnapore district. This was a part of their traditional migratory route through which they would enter Simlipal forests of Odisha. However, the obstruction forced some of the jumbos to move into Birbhum and Murshidabad. This elephant was probably one of them.
The experts further informed that there are about 138 inter-state elephant migration routes in the country, of which about 17-18 are located across the borders, leading to problems.