Tusker dies of electrocution near Jaldapara National Park

Kolkata, Oct 25 (IANS) A tusker died reportedly due to electrocution at Kalchini in West Bengal's Alipurduar district on Tuesday. The body of the elephant was detected by the local villagers near a paddy field close to the famous Jaldapara National Park.

The body of the elephant has been sent for post-mortem by the officials of the forest department.

“Although the exact reason behind the death will be known only after the post-mortem report is made available, initial investigation suggests that the tusker died due to electrocution. Probably it happened after the elephant came in contact with an illegally raised electrified wire-fence on the boundary of some farmland,” said a forest department official.

Meanwhile, the development has created tension in the area. Forest department officials said that setting up electrified wire-fences around farmland to prevent elephants from entering is quite common in the area, and previously too there had been cases of jumbo deaths because of electrocution.

The forest department, from time to time, also conducts awareness drives among the local people, asking them to refrain from setting up such illegal wire-fences. However, even after such awareness drives, the trend seems to be continuing.

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