Animal rights organisations demand inquiry into brutal killing of elephant in WB

The West Bengal government must immediately constitute an inquiry into the killing of an adult female elephant after her back was pierced with a burning spear on August 15, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) has demanded on Wednesday 21 August.

The incident underscors the escalating human-elephant conflict in the region and the complexities involved with controlling such situations.

HT reported on Monday that the elephant died in Jhargram in West Bengal after mobs pierced her with a flaming spear hours after another pachyderm allegedly killed a resident on the outskirts of the town, said animal rights groups, underscoring the escalating human-elephant conflict in the region and the complexities involved with controlling such situations.

 A hulla party (elephant chasers) was reportedly called by the forest department to chase the herd. They were carrying flaming spears.

Rai

“The West Bengal forest department must immediately constitute a committee comprising experts on human-elephant conflict mitigation, including NGOs working on the ground in the state and in other states where successful measures have been deployed, and other departments; and that West Bengal must suspend all hulla committees until a fresh protocol, devised by experts with training for mitigation of conflict, is put into place,” FIAPO demanded.

“Human-Elephant conflict, entirely because of bad policy, that ignores both the human and the animal interest — which can both co-exist, have turned the daily on ground elephant incursions into war like scenarios. It appears that now elephants and humans are at war with each other - and the recent brutal murder of the wild elephant, a gory, unfortunate reality that has left the state forest department, yet again, with blood on their hands,” said Alok Hisarwala, advocate, founder of the Centre for Research on Animal Rights and FIAPO Trustee, in a statement.

Hulla parties, which are controlled by the state forest departments, are supposed to use drums and other non-violent means to drive away elephants. “But in this case, the crowd threw flaming iron spears at the elephants, one of which pierced the elephant’s back. A video that is being widely circulated shows the elephant with the fiery spear sticking out of its back, in agony. In the video, a child is heard telling her father, “Please let her go; she is in pain.” The elephant died the next day of its wounds,” FIAPO said in a note.