3rd Elephant Conservation Dialogue emphasises habitat protection

Bangladesh-India 3rd elephant conservation dialogue held in Dhaka Thursday emphasized on collaborative efforts to protect the endangered mammals.
At the inaugural session of the day-long dialogue delegates said the rapid depletion of elephant habitats must be checked at any cost to conserve the rich and diverse ecosystem of the two South Asian countries.
The delegates from the two countries exchanged data relating to elephant conservation and maps of corridors used by elephants in the bordering districts of Bangladesh and India.
The previous dialogues were held in Kolkata in 2016 and in Shillong in 2017.
Speaking as the chief guest environment, forest and climate change ministry secretary Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury identified food shortage, loss of habitats and killing of elephants as threats to shrinking population of Asian elephants.
Temporary Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazaar blocked almost all the ancient trails of wild elephants, he said.
Bangladesh-Indian collaborative efforts were needed to protect elephants as they follow no boundaries, said Indian environment, forest and climate change ministry additional director general of forests (wildlife) Manmohan Singh Negi.

Environment, forest and climate change ministry additional secretary Billal Hossain said that with support from IUCN, the forest department of Bangladesh formed 26 elephant response teams to check human-elephant conflicts and implement plantation projects to provide fodder for elephants.
Chairing the inaugural session at the Forest Department’s Haimanti Auditorium at Agargaon chief conservator of forests Mohammed Shafiul Alam Chowdhury said fragmentation of elephant habitats must be stopped using multifaceted approaches.

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Corridor block compounds man-elephant conflict on border

GUWAHATI: Disruption of traditional elephant corridors and decreasing access to food has compounded the conflict between humans and elephants in areas along and near the Assam-Meghalaya border, forest officials here say.
“A majority of the wild elephants who cross over to the Goalpara forest division near the border are originally from Garo Hills, and with the traditional/regular routes taken by the herds blocked of late because of erection of electric fences in Garo Hills, the elephants have literally no option but to take a detour,” a senior official from the Assam forest department told The Shillong Times on Saturday.
On Friday, a herd of 28 wild elephants had reportedly damaged several houses and destroyed crops in the Dhekiabari area in Krishnai (Goalpara district) near the Assam-Meghalaya border. However, there was no casualty or injury caused to any person.
Forest sources say that unlike Rani and Garbhanga under Guwahati wildlife division, which has a large forest area facilitating better movement of elephant herds, the reserved forests in Goalpara division are smaller and scattered.
“The elephants in these 30 to 40 scattered reserved forests earlier used to migrate to Bangladesh but now they are confined to the border areas of Assam and Meghalaya. Also, most villagers in Goalpara district are taking up large-scale rubber plantation and hence access to food for these marauding elephants has become limited. So, these herds resort to destroying houses and granaries in search of food,” the forest official said.
The herds, he said, generally raid human habitation in search of food during winter. “But of late, there is an apparent deviation and we are noticing a growing trend of elephants raiding human habitation in other seasons as well,” the forest official said.
According to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (year ended March 31, 2017), close to 10,000 cases of human-elephant conflicts have been reported from Meghalaya in the past five years.
Twenty five persons died, 22 injured and about 4,009 hectares of cropland damaged in such conflicts between 2012 and 2017.
Meghalaya is home to around 1,800 elephants with Garo Hills region alone (including Balpakram National Park), accounting for about two-thirds of such conflicts, the CAG report said.


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Wild elephants rampage through Rohingya refugee camp

Up to 12 people have been killed as wild elephants continue to rampage through a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Twelve Rohingya people have been killed by wild elephants in a refugee camp in Bangladesh over recent months.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since a military crackdown last year.

The United Nations has said the military crackdown could constitute as an "act of genocide".

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At least 10 Rohingyas trampled to death by wild elephants

Wild elephants have trampled at least 10 Rohingya refugees to death in separate incidents, the United Nations said on Tuesday, according to agencies reports.

The reports added, the UN is announcing a new plan to foster ‘safe coexistence’ between animals and sprawling refugee settlements.

Refugee camps have begun to rise alarmingly after around 700,000 Rohingyas fled from Myanmar and settled in Bangladesh’s border area of Cox’s Bazar, including Kutupalong which now holds the distinction of being the largest refugee camp in the world.

The United Nations refugee agency said the threat from elephants had emerged as a new concern as wild elephants in search of food often attack these refugee camps smelling food.

Notably, the area now occupied by the Kutupalong refugee settlement was an important habitat for Asian elephants for quite some time.

Reports quoted an UN agency report as stating that there are about 40 elephants in the area and they move between Bangladesh and Myanmar in search of food.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), agencies reports said, has announced partnering with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has experience in Bangladesh helping people live alongside wild elephants.

The plan includes imparting training to the refugees to emergency response during elephant attacks.

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U.N. tries to protect refugees from deadly elephant attacks

Rohingya refugees who escaped horrors in Myanmar face another threat in Bangladesh: wild elephants. Refugee camps in the country are located along migratory and feeding routes for the animals.

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80 Meghalaya Elephants Holed Up In B’desh

SHILLONG: As many as 80 Meghalaya elephants are holed up in Bangladesh and unable to come back.

A state forest official said the elephants landed up in Northern part of Bangladesh after breaking the border fencing in the Garo Hills-Bangladesh sector.

The elephants are not being able to come back since many habitations have come up in and around the routes earlier taken by the elephants in the Bangladesh border.

“When the time came for them to return to Meghalaya, the new human habitations prevented the easy passage of the elephants,” the official added.

According to the official, the Bangladeshi residents and forest officials had noticed the elephant herd and concluded that they were from Meghalaya as there were no wild elephants belonging to Bangladesh in the northern part of the country.

Since the elephants cannot come back to Meghalaya, the only way is to protect them.
It was in this context that on July 27, the second Indo-Bangladesh dialogue for trans-boundary conservation of elephants was held in Shillong.

The purpose of the meeting was to sign a protocol to allow animals to move freely.
“Unlike human beings, animals need unrestricted movement across the border and the protocol by both the countries will ensure safety of the animals as they are vulnerable along the border,” the forest official added.

According to the official, India has already ratified the protocol and a similar response from Bangladesh is awaited.

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Farmer killed in elephant attack

An elderly farmer was killed and his wife and son were injured in an attack by wild elephants at Haluahati village under Sribardi upazila in Sherpur Thursday night.

A herd of elephants, numbering 30-40, came down the hills around 11:00pm and damaged a paddy field in the area, said Md Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge of Sribardi police.

When the locals tried to ward off the elephants, they attacked them, leaving Abdul Hye, 70, son of Tonu Mandal, dead on the spot and his wife and son Israfil Mia injured, the OC added.
The injured were admitted to Sribardi upazila health complex.

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A raging elephant ran over a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh and was shot dead

Rohingya man breathed his last breath under the feet of a raging elephant entering a populated area in the Kutupalong camps in Bangladesh.

Arakan News Agency reporter said the raging elephant had demolished more than 3 Rohingya refugee huts and the local residents had fled, but this old man fell under his feet and could not escape.

The footage shows the elderly man with a swollen face with multiple fracture of his leg and other sporadic injuries.

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Elderly Rohingya killed by wild elephant, 13 sheds smashed

One elderly Rohingya refugee was trampled by wild elephant and five others injured at Kutupalang Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar early Sunday.

The wild elephants are also damaged some 13 shedes at Kutupalong makeshift refugees camp under.
The deceased is identified as Mohammad Sarif, 60, son of Ali Johar, Block-E/3 of Kutupalong makeshift refugee camp.

Mohammad Abul Khair, officer-in-charge if Ukhiya police station, said one wild elephant attacked Kutupalong makeshift refugee camp at about 1:00am Sunday. All the refugees were asleep.

He said first the elephant attacked Sharif’s shed. Sharif’s family members managed to flee but he fell victim of elephant’s wrath and died on the spot.

Later, wild elephant was damaged some 13 sheds on the same block.

Some five rohingyas including women and children were injured when they were fleeing. They were given first aid at camp clinic.

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Elephant stampede kills tribal youth in Sherpur

A tribal young man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Choto Gazni in Jhenigati upazila on Saturday midnight.

The deceased was identified as Polodaf Sangma, 28, son of Ronen Kubi of the area.

Locals said a herd of marauding elephants invaded Choto Gazni village in the upazila at about 12:00 am.

Villagers made an attempt to drive away the elephants by torching lamps.

At one stage, a wild elephant pounced on Polodaf and crushed him to death by trampling.

Later locals recovered the body.

Jhenigati Rangtia Range Officer M Kabir Hossain of the Forest Department confirmed the incident.

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Freeze-dried dung gives clue to Asian elephant stress

"Collecting fresh faecal samples is not as easy as it may sound," says researcher Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel.

But her efforts have helped scientists in India devise a unique, non-invasive way to monitor the physiological health of wild elephants.

The key has been freeze-drying dung in the field to preserve the elephant's hormones.

As a result, scientists found stress levels in females were more conspicuous than in male elephants.
Over five years, Sanjeeta and her colleagues collected more than 300 samples from 261 elephants in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats area.

She explained her technique: "I used to hide and observe till the elephant defecated and moved away."

She told the BBC: "These samples mean a lot to me."

Ethical approach

The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of the elephants' body condition on glucocorticoid metabolites.

Animals such as elephants are subjected to various stressors in their lives, with factors including threats from predators, food shortages, drought and illness.

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Rescued flood-odyssey elephant dies in Bangladesh

A tranquilized wild elephant lies on the ground after being pulled from a pond by Bangladesh forest officials and villagers in the Jamalpur district, some 150 km north of capital Dhaka.

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Injured elephant still lying

Injured elephant Rajlakkhi, undergoing treatment while lying on the ground at Ishobpur in Srimangal upazila of Moulvibazar, sees only a little improvement during the last few days as the local livestock department office lacks necessary equipment for treatment of injured animals.

An elephant, badly injured while getting down from a truck on July 14 night, is still lying in a field at Ishobpur beside Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Srimangal upazila of Moulvibazar.

The accident occurred due to alleged negligence of the men of the circus party that had rented it for a show.

“We are trying to treat the elephant with necessary medicines. But it will take time to recover,” Dr Md Ariful Islam, veterinary surgeon of Srimangal upazila livestock department.

“We have limitation as there is no X-ray facility for animals in Srimangal livestock department and Lawacherra Wildlife Rescue Centre.

“If X-rays could be done, it would help to properly identify the problem and provide the required treatment,” he said.

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Elephant kills navy man in Kaptai

A member of Bangladesh Navy was killed in a wild elephant attack in Navy road area under Kaptai upazila of Rangamati district on Monday night, reports UNB. The deceased, Shahadat Hossain, 40, was posted at BNS Shaheed Moazzem Training Base Camp in the district. Dildar Hossain, chairman of Kaptai Upazila Parishad, said a wild elephant, all of a sudden, swooped on Shahadat around 10:30 pm while he was returning his residence adjacent to the office through the road. He died on the spot. On information, the members of Bangladesh Navy recovered the body. On May 30, this year, an indigenous woman was also killed by an elephant attack on the same spot.

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Wild animals search for food in villages of Bangladesh's hilly regions

Elephants, monkeys and snakes have wandered into villages in Chittagong's Banshkhali, Sitakunda and Mirsarai at an increased rate this year.

The clearing of forests in the hills was threatening biodiversity and forcing animals to search for new sources of food, experts and forest officials have said.

A lone elephant came down from the hills to Kokdondi village of Banshkhali's Kalipur Union on Jun 23. "Our home and fruit orchard are very near to the hills," said Pulok Debdas.

"Elephants never used to come down here. But they came here nearly 27 times this year. They come alone, in pairs or in groups of six to seven."    

The elephants ravage the trees around the household to eat jackfruits, pineapples, bananas and also bamboo before returning to the hills, he said.

They can stay up to three days, and sometimes rest in the house's front yard, he said. "They are never disturbed here, so they don’t harm humans."
"I used to get scared at first, but not anymore," said Debdas.

Forest officials have been trying to convince locals to not clear banana plants which are the main sources of food for wild elephants, said Kalipur Forest Ranger Shahjahan Chowdhury.

"But the locals are shrinking their food sources by continuing to cut banana plants," he said, mentioning a plan to replant trees in the Kalipur hills.  

In Sitakunda, 40 to 50 monkeys ended up at the Sombhunath temple on Friday noon.

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Youth killed in Ctg elephant attack

A young man was killed and two others injured as a herd wild elephants attacked them in Bajalia area of Satkania upazila on Thursday morning.

The deceased was identified as Md Hossain, 28.

Locals said that a herd of wild elephants entered Bajalia area adjacent to a reserved forest a week ago but the Forest Department didn't take any step to drive them away.

When a group of villagers tried to drive them away in the morning, the elephants swooped on them, leaving Hossain dead on the spot and two others-Abul Kalam, 32, and Monzur, 18, injured.

Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Satkania Police Station, said police have been sent to the area.

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Farmer dies in Sherpur elephant attack

A farmer was killed while his wife and their son were injured in an attack by elephants at Balijuri Christian Para of Sribardi upazila in Sherpur early Sunday. The deceased was identified as Veruna Mrong, 40, of Balijuri Christian Para.

Quoting locals, Sribardi upazila nirbahi officer Khaleda Nasrin said: ‘A herd of elephants numbering 40-50 went down the hills to the locality in search of food early Sunday.’ ‘When locals tried to ward off the elephants, the mammoths attacked the house of Veruna, leaving the farmer, his wife and son injured.’ Severely injured Veruna died on his way to Sherpur District Hospital, added the UNO.

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Wild elephants face food crisis in Bangladesh belt

The Asian elephants are facing crisis of foods in Bangladesh belt. Often, the elephants come to the locality at Rangunia, Raojan, Rajostholi, Satkania, Lohagara, Banshkhali, Potia, Boalkhali in Chittagong and Chokoria, Ramu and other hilly areas of Cox's Bazar. The wild elephants use to damage  paddy fields and locality in search of food.

Besides, many times, the wild elephants killed people and villagers at hilly areas of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. Moreover, villagers also killed many elephants when the wild elephants attacked on locality last years.

Meanwhile, the Chittagong district administration has taken step to create banana garden at the hilly areas for feeding the wild elephants. Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Shamsul Arefin discussed the matter in the monthly meeting of Chittagong district law and order committee held at the Chittagong Circuit house last week.

 The meeting has taken decision to save the villagers of hilly areas from the attack of the wild elephants as well as the elephants from the attack of villagers. The meeting decided to send request to the Forest Ministry to create banana gardens at the hilly areas for feeding the wild elephants.

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2 killed in Cox’s Bazar elephant attack

A man and his son-in-law were trampled to death by wild elephants at Sapergara in Pekua upazila of Cox’s Bazar early Thursday.

The deceased were identified as Syed Ahmed, 60, son of Moniruzzaman, and Syed’s son-in-law Mohammad Alamgir, 26, son of Chan Mia, both residents of ward no. 5 under Shilkhali union of the upazila.

Quoting locals, of Shilkhali union chairman Nurul Hossain said a herd of wild elephants descended the nearby hill and started to damage freshly harvested paddy around 4:30 am.

As Syed and Alamgir tried to shoo off the elephants they were trampled to death by the mammoths on the spot, reports UNB news agency.

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Wild elephant attack kills an old man

Sherpur Correspondent: An old man was killed by the attack of a wild elephant at Balijhuri village near border area of Ranishimul union in Shribardi upazila.

The accident took place on Sunday night around 10:30 pm. when the old man came out from home, at least 50 wild elephants came to the border area of Balijhuri village and attacked the old man. The man died on the spot.

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