Three elephants with two calves took shelter on abandoned government land. Soon, a crowd of people gathered, and as per standard practice, the state forest department called upon the “Hula party”, a team of villagers using small spears lit on the sharp ends, to drive away the herd.
Now, over the pregnant elephant’s death on August 15, the state forest department has lodged a police complaint, promising “strict action”. The department said that it is “unclear” whether Hula party members or local people threw the spear in the incident near Jhargram Raj College in Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, of the West Midnapore district.
When the spear struck the elephant, it stuck on its back, causing it to writhe in pain and fall. Tranquilised by officials, the elephant was taken away, and it later died. A postmortem examination revealed it was pregnant.
Speaking with The Indian Express, Birbaha Hansda, the West Bengal forest minister, said, “It is a heart-wrenching incident. We consider elephants as part of our family. I am personally very sad. Those who have done this will be arrested soon.”
Hansda said that she has already held meetings with officials regarding the incident. “Whenever there is a drive to move elephants from an urban or semi-urban area, thousands of local people gather. We have decided to take action against any such person who enters within 500 metres of a spot where a drive is going on,” she said.
Meanwhile, Rajesh Mahato, state president of Kurmi Samaj West Bengal told The Indian Express over the phone from Jhargram that the state forest department is “responsible” for the death. “It is a tragic incident. The Hula party are untrained youths who are employed by the state forest department to drive away elephants. No one has been arrested so far,” he said.
Residents of Jhargram, including Kurmi society members, protested against the department, alleging that they “mishandled” the situation. The Kurmi Samaj demanded, in their rallies, the resignation of the forest minister.
“The state government has no plan for the wild animals who are forced to enter urban areas and villages in search of food. Both people and elephants are dying. Where will wild animals go,” said Mahato.
Aritra Kshettry, National Lead for Elephant Conservation, WWF-India, noted that the co-existence of people and elephants in the southern districts of West Bengal leads to “damage” for both. “In the short term, it would be good to sensitise local teams on safe animal handling and deterrence methods, drawing on experience from northern West Bengal and other parts of India,” he said.
However, Kshettry also stressed the need for other government departments to get involved for “effective crowd control during elephant emergencies”.
“Long-term measures need to include enriching viable habitats in the region, while also deploying efficient early warning systems to prevent elephant entry into densely populated areas,” he said.
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