Rohingya influx deals blow to Bangladesh’s wild elephant population

As many as five wild elephants have been killed between November 21 last year and January 22

The influx of the displaced Rohingya has a dealt a double blow to the wild elephant population inhabiting Bangladesh’s Chittagong region.

Shortage of food and destruction of habitat forced the elephants to venture out, leading to clashes with humans. Five elephants have been killed between November 21 last year and January 22 – three of them from electrocution and landmine-related injuries.

Conservationists say elephants are known as ecosystem’s engineers and gardeners since they play a vital role in forest enhancement by disbursing seeds and creating an environment for germination.

Elephant dung plays a crucial role in nutrient cycling by providing nutrients to the soil that is ultimately used by the flora. It is also a good source of food for many insects, experts say.

Since the latest spell of Rohingya crisis, Myanmar security forces planted landmines and erected barbed wire fence along its border with Bangladesh, obstructing the trans-boundary migratory routes of the giant mammals.

On the other hand, shelters set up for the Rohingya – which led to the destruction of 4,000 acres of forestland – also blocked the wild elephants’ routes. The Rohingya are destroying forest resources to meet their daily demand of firewood of 800 tons.

Obstruction of the passages and destruction of forests have forced elephants to seek alternative routes and triggered crop-raiding incidents.

Nearly 690,000 Rohingya escaped to Bangladesh after Myanmar security forces launched a brutal ‘clearance operation’ targeting the minority in last August. Another 100,000 Rohingya had crossed the border earlier following violence in the Rakhine state in October 2016.

The presence of the huge number of people and encroachment of forests has made the wild elephants more desperate in their search for food and water. Between September 17 last year and January 19, seven Rohingya were trampled to death by wild elephants in Ukhiya and Balukhali refugee camps.

But as many as five wild elephants have also been killed in the last three months.



“Unnatural death of an adult female elephant is a great loss since she is a repository of traditional knowledge, including the migration routes,” wildlife biologist Dr AHM Raihan Sarker told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said the wild elephants turned violent as they were pushed to the limit.

“The trans-boundary corridors (Balukhali-Naikhyangchhari-Myanmar and Balukhali-Ghundhum-Myanmar) turned dangerous for the migratory elephants as Myanmar security forces planted landmines along the borders,” he noted.

“Besides, routes used by the elephant have been blocked to make space for refugee camps,” he added.

Elephants consume equivalent to 1.5% of their body weight every day and usually the quantity of fodder ranges from 135kg to 300kg for adults, the expert said. The wild elephants invade crop fields as they are an easy source of food.

“It is natural for the farmers to protect their crop from raiding animals. But it is the responsibility of the forest officials to keep a strict vigil to avert any casualty of wild animals,” he said.

He suggested adopting an action plan urgently to save the mammals.

Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed, a former country representative of the IUCN Bangladesh, said elephants were among protected animals under the Wildlife Act, adding that the forest department should investigate the repeated incidents of death of the wild elephants.

Eminent wildlife conservationist Reza Khan cited a study which showed that the elephants naturally browse on at least 50 species of plants and eat fruits of over a dozen trees.

Deforestation and changing patterns in forestry created a severe shortage of food for elephants and other animals.

He said many people had encroached on forest lands and occupied routes used by elephants. The illegal land occupiers sometimes use electrical fences and poison-laced food items to deter elephants raiding their crops or dwellings, the former IUCN member said, demanding punishment for the offenders.

“Rampaging wild elephants entering human settlements should be tranquillized and moved to remote areas where there are existing elephant populations,” Khan told the Dhaka Tribune. “To reduce human-elephant conflicts, the government must ensure sufficient supply of food and water inside the forest.”

When contacted, Md Jahidul Kabir, conservator of forests (wildlife and nature conservation circle), said they were going to undertake a special project in consultation with the IUCN.

Wildlife biologist Raihan said wild elephants played a significant role in protecting natural forests, adding: “The conservation of elephants should be a mandatory task to ensure their survivability.”

Dr Anisuzzaman Khan, biodiversity researcher and chief adviser to Isabela Foundation, said, “People all over the world keep a close eye on the state of tigers and elephants. Infrastructural development of a country becomes meaningless and the country suffers from an image deficit if tigers or elephants meet unnatural death.”

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BJP raises pitch for restoring jumbo corridors

GUWAHATI: The BJP has raised the pitch for freeing land under various satras (Vaishnavite worship place) from encroachers and restoring elephant corridors across the state.

Among several resolutions taken at the BJP's two-day executive meeting which concluded on Saturday evening, freeing satra land from encroachers and conserving elephant corridors also figured prominently.

"The meeting thanked the state government for carrying out successful eviction drives against encroachers in Kaziranga and Sipajhar (Darrang district) since it came to power. The meeting decided to ask the government to take steps to free satra land from encroachers. Many plots belonging to satras are now under encroachment and the settlers have to be evicted," said BJP legislator Bhabesh Kalita.

Freeing satra land from encroachers is one of the electoral promises made by BJP and the meeting has reiterated the commitment it made to people in the run-up to the assembly polls.

Five years ago, the Northeast Policy Institute (NPI) said about 5548 bighas of land belonging to 26 satras were encroached upon by settlers of 'Bangladeshi origin.'


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Number of elephants decreasing fast

By Sheikh Arif Bulbon, The New Nation
February 25, 2007
The number of elephants is alarmingly decreasing in forests of Cox's Bazar and Teknaf, where once one-third of elephant population of the country was found, due to undue pressure of deforestation and increasing of human activities in forest areas.
According to the last census of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), there are only 30 to 35 elephants in forests of Teknaf and Southern Cox's Bazar regions.
The Teknaf Game Reserve is one of the five protected areas where the Forest Department has initiated the co-management approach situated at Damdamia in the south of Cox's Bazar. The Game Reserve provides a vital sanctuary for a wide variety of wildlife, especially elephants. It was established in 1983 under the Wildlife Act of 1973. It was previously Teknaf Reserve Forest. It includes an area formerly referred to as the Thainkhali Game Reserve (7,770 hectres). Currently it covers an area of 11,615 hectres, making it the third largest protected areas after Sunderbans and Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuaries. Day to day management activities by the Nishorgo Support Programme (NSP), a protected area management programme, are carried out from two ranges namely Teknaf and Whykong.
Raquibul Amin of IUCN said, "During 1980s the Reserve contained about half of the mammals and one-third (101) of the elephant population of the country. Many wildlife have already been on the verge of extinction and elephants are in high risk of extinction not only in Bangladesh as well as in Asia due to the loss of forest cover, loss of corridor and the forest fragmentation."

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