Three elephants, including calf, die of electrocution in Chhattisgarh forest

Raigarh: Three elephants, including a calf, were electrocuted after coming into contact with a power line in a forest in Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, on Saturday, officials reported.

Preliminary investigations suggest the elephants touched an 11 KV power transmission line owned by a state power company in the Chuhkimar forest area, according to Stylo Mandavi, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) for Raigarh.

Forest staff quickly arrived at the scene, and veterinarians performed post-mortems on the animals. Mandavi noted that an investigation into the incident will be conducted.

Over the past six years, Chhattisgarh has seen the deaths of more than 70 elephants, with causes ranging from health issues and old age to electrocution. Human-elephant conflicts in northern Chhattisgarh have become a significant problem in recent years, particularly in districts like Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, and Balrampur.

Agency