Odisha Registers Highest Elephant Attack Deaths in the Country

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has reported the highest number of deaths due to elephant attacks, despite having less number of wild elephants in comparison to Karnataka, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Odisha is reported to be having 1976 elephants. In comparison Karnataka has 6,049, Assam has 5,719, Kerala has 3,054 and Tamil Nadu’s elephant population is 2,761.

But when it comes to elephant attack deaths, Odisha topped the list with 322 deaths, followed by Jharkhand (291), West Bengal (240), Assam (229), Chattisgarh (183) and Tamil Nadu (152). Odisha had recorded 148 human deaths in 2022-23, which was the highest for the year in India.

The human kills per 100 elephants over three years is 18 in Odisha; compared to Assam human kills of only 4 per 100 elephants.

Highest number of elephant attack deaths have occurred in the Dhenkanal district in the last ten years, amounting to 31 human deaths, followed by Angul – 24,  Sundargarh – 22, Keonjhar – 18, Mayurbhanj – 10, Sambalpur – 8 and Khurda – 7.

At least 392 elephants have died in Odisha in the last 5 years while 137 unnatural deaths were reported. Due to decomposed bodies, the reason behind the death of 94 elephant deaths could not be ascertained.