Centre begins probe into deaths of 10 elephants in MP’s Bandhavgarh

The Centre has initiated an inquiry into the deaths of elephants in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has constituted a team to investigate the deaths of ten elephants in the reserve. This team is conducting an independent inquiry into the matter. The Madhya Pradesh Government has also constituted a five-member state-level committee to investigate and submit a report.
The patrolling staff of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve detected the deaths of four elephants in the Salkhania beats of Pataur and Khiatuli range on the 29th of October. Upon further combing of the adjoining areas, six more elephants were found sick or unconscious in the vicinity and later died.
According to preliminary information shared by concerned officers from Madhya Pradesh, the elephants may have died due to poisoning. The final cause of death will be determined after a thorough inquiry, including detailed postmortem reports, histopathological and toxicological analyses, and other corroborative evidence. Furthermore, preventive measures are being implemented by state officials to avoid the possibility of such incidents, and monitoring of other elephant herds in and around the Bandhavgarh reserve has been enhanced.
India lost 528 elephants to train accidents, electrocution, poaching and poisoning over the past five years from 2019-20 through 2023-24, according to data shared by the environment ministry with Parliament earlier this year.Electrocution accounted for 392 (74.2 per cent), the largest proportion of the casualties over the five years, followed by train accidents that caused 73 (or 13.8 per cent) of the deaths, poaching (50, 9.4 per cent), and poisoning (13, 2.4 per cent.)