A wild jumbo was electrocuted in central Assam’s Hojai district on Tuesday. With this, the toll of electrocution deaths of jumbos in the state increased to three in the month of November.
Forest officials said a male elephant aged around 45-46 years, died on the spot after coming in contact with a live wire in Nandanpur under Kapili Valley Range.
“Post mortem has been conducted and the details of the report are awaited,” an official said.
On October 15 and 24, two elephants, including a lactating jumbo, died by electrocution in Golaghat and Goalpara districts.
At least 14 elephants have died this year in various parts of Assam due to illegal electric fences put up by farmers to protect their crops.
Over 91 elephants have been electrocuted in Assam between 2011 and 2019.
Electrocution, poisoning and natural calamities have also led to elephant deaths recently.
In May this year, 18 jumbos were killed by a lightning strike in the Nagaon district.
With the second largest elephant population in India after Karnataka (6049), Assam is home to 5,719 Asian elephants according to the last census conducted in 2017.