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

Bhubaneswar: 698 elephants, 48 leopards and seven Royal Bengal tigers died in Odisha between 2015-16 and September 25, 2023. State Forest and Environment Minister Pradeep Kumar Amat gave this information in the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday. Responding to a written question from ruling Biju Janata Dal member Prafulla Samal, he informed the House that elephants and big cats died due to many reasons, including disease, electric shock, train accidents, road accidents, poaching and Contains poison.

MLA Samal also wanted to know about the steps taken to reduce the death of animals. In his reply, the minister said that their natural habitats were strengthened, a large number of elephant fodder plants were planted and pastures were developed. Besides, artificial ponds have also been dug and steps have been taken to combat forest fires and poaching, he said. Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati also wanted to know how many people have died so far due to the human-elephant conflict. Answering his question, Minister Amat said that a total of 602 people were killed in elephant attacks in the last five years. Amat said elephants killed 127 domestic animals and demolished 611 houses during the same period.