Odisha lost 698 elephants, 48 leopards and 7 Royal Bengal tigers in last eight years

Bhubaneshwar: As many as 698 elephants, 48 leopards and seven Royal Bengal tigers died in Odisha between 2015-16 and September 25, 2023. This was informed by state forest and environment minister Pradip Kumar Amat in the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Replying to a written query by ruling Biju Janata Dal member Prafulla Samal, he informed the House that the elephants and the big cats died due to multiple reasons, including diseases, electrocution, train accidents, road accidents, poaching and poisoning.

MLA Samal also wished to know about the steps taken to reduce the deaths of the animals.

In his reply, the minister said their natural habitats were strengthened, a large number of elephant fodder plants planted and pasture grounds developed. Besides, artificial ponds had also been dug up and steps were taken to tackle wildfire and poaching, he said.

Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati also wanted to know how many people had so far died due to man-elephant conflicts.

Responding to his question, Minister Amat said a total of 602 people were killed in elephant attacks in the last five years. During the same period, the elephants killed 127 domestic animals and pulled down 611 houses, Amat added.