Death toll reaches 72 in human-elephant conflicts in 15 yrs in Jhapa

Jhapa, June 27: A total of 72 people, including seven foreigners, have died in Jhapa district from elephant attacks in the past 15 years.

Dr Suman Bhul of the Division Forest Office, Jhapa, said that 92 people sustained injuries from the elephant attacks. Likewise, five people succumbed to injuries from the elephant attacks in the last year and six others were injured. As per the records of the past 15 years, five people have lost their lives in a year on average in conflicts with the elephants.

E-fencing, development of ponds, planting of fruit saplings and other activities are being undertaken in the district to reduce the human-elephant conflicts. However, Dr Lilanath Sharma of Forest Action Nepal said that human-elephant conflicts would not be reduced only by e-fencing.

“There should be reforms in the forest itself,” he added. Likewise, a total of 25 elephants have been found dead in the Jhapa district since 2006, and the number of elephant casualties has been on the rise in recent times. The Division Forest Office said that four elephants have died to date in the current fiscal year, while four elephants had died in the previous fiscal year due to animal-elephant conflicts.

The government has provided more than Rs 96.8 million in relief to the victims suffering from the elephant menace. The families of those killed by elephants are getting Rs 1 million and the injured ones get up to Rs 200,000, according to Dr Bhul.