5th July, 2017


Dozens of elephants, tigers, sloth bears, monkeys and flamingos are being electrocuted in India’s farmlands, plantations, around human settlements near and inside forests, as they come in contact with poorly maintained power lines and electric wires.

While there are guidelines to keep animals straying out of their shrinking habitats safe, wildlife researchers said they are not properly implemented.

For instance, last week, a family of four elephants was electrocuted by a low-hanging power line in a coffee plantation in Karnataka’s Kodagu district.

A probe showed that contrary to a Karnataka HC order, the power line was less than 9m from the ground. This was not an isolated case. Data from Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) show 355 elephants across the country died from deliberate and accidental electrocution between 2010 and 2016 — 62 of these deaths took place in 2016 alone. The list identifies flamingos as the second largest casualty of animal electrocution, at 181, followed by leopards and peacocks at 64 deaths each over six years. 

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