After Forest Department personnel trimmed the tusk of a wild elephant in Angul after it trampled five persons to death on Friday, Wildlife Society of Odisha secretary Biswajit Mohanty has written to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden requesting him to refrain from trimming tusks of wild elephants.

Mohanty alleged that the operation was carried out at night in less than 24 hours after the attack was based on hasty decision making that did not account for the interest of the tusker in having his tusks intact. No other options to manage the animal’s aggression were considered by the department.

He also questioned how this action was taken without the permission from the DG(Wildlife), Government of India as it is a Schedule I animal .

He stated that tusks of elephants in captivity may be trimmed but those in the wild need to protect themselves as the sharp ends of the tusks are their tools to defend against attacks by other tuskers.

Mohanty stated that in an earlier letter they had informed the Wildlife Department about the tragic fate of another tusker of Kamkhyanagar range in Dhenkanal district, whose tusks were trimmed on December 18, 2016. Sadly, 20 months later the adult tusker was found bleeding and suffering from multiple injuries after being attacked by other tuskers.

The animal had wounds caused by goring by other tuskers which were deep and serious.  On July 29, 2018, he was tranquilised and treated for the wounds but he did not survive long. It was later found that he was once again attacked by other elephants while he was recuperating and died a painful death on August 11, 2018, Mohanty stated.

He further stated that the wildlife activists had raised concerns about the fact that every year about 18 to 20 adult breeding tuskers are lost and hence it is important to protect and preserve the remaining breeding adult males for a sustainable elephant population in the State.