925 Humans Killed by Wild Elephants in Odisha in last 10 Yrs; 784 Elephants died During the Period

Bhubaneswar: Human-Elephant conflict has claimed the lives of at least 925 persons in Odisha between 2012-13 and 2021-22. This was stated by state minister for forest, environment and climate change, Pradip Amat in the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday in his reply to a question by the BJP MLA Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra.

According to the minister, 212 people became physically disabled in elephant attacks in Odisha during the last 10 years.

Death of humans due to wild elephant attacks is on the rise in the state. The number of human deaths by wild elephants increased from 80 in 2012-13 to 105 in 2017-18 and 112 in 2021-22. In 2020-21, the number of deaths reached 139.

Persons permanently disabled in elephant attacks rose from five in 2012-13 to 51 in 2021-22 in Odisha.

During this past decade, 784 elephants died in Odisha. While 82 pachyderms died in 2012-13, the figure was 86 in 2015-16, 93 in 2018-19 and 86 in 2021-22. The deaths of 39 elephants were  probed and charge sheets against 50 people were filed. However, not a single accused has been convicted in these cases, so far, informed Amat in his reply.

In another written statement, the Odisha forest minister has said that 11 wild elephants were killed by poachers during 2022-23.

According to the last elephant census conducted in 2017, there are 1,976 elephants in Odisha.