Anxiety over continuous killing of elephants

Staff Reporter: The Nature conservationists of the country expressed anxiety over continuous killing of wild elephants in the country.
Prokriti Songrokkhon Jote (an alliance of nature conservationists’ orgaiations), a newly formed association of 33 nature conservationists’ organisations in Bangladesh expressed their frustration at the heinous activities making the elephant’s life endangered.
As the latest incident, a wild elephant was found killed in Banshkhali area of Chattogram on Wednesday.
Prokriti Songrokkhon Jote leaders made a phone call from their emergency meeting on Thursday to the Chief Forest Conservator of the Forest Department, Amir Hossain Chowdhury over the latest development.
Environmental Scientist Professor Dr. Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumdar, Convener of the association did it.
The association leaders expressed their concern and questioned Amir Hossain about this indifference to the elephant?
The association leaders said that about eight elephants had been killed in recent days.
Huge protests, criticism made over the matter and the conservationists organised different programmes including human chain and demonstrations in past several days.
But the killings of wild elephant have not been stopped yet, they told the forest conservator.
In response to the phone call, the forest official said that they had not showed any indifference to saving the elephants in the region.
But, he said, the illegal electric line users used to take their cables through the forests hazardously and made the wild elephant life helpless.
The official also described their activities to make the elephants safe in forests.
He said, they have no short of honesty in this matter but have shortages of manpower to monitor the issue closely.
As per the action about connecting illegal electric line through the area, the forest department has filed case against power officials.
The conservationists asked the forest department to be more conscious and honest on making wild lives safe from such offensive activities.
The association leaders decided to send letters to the ministry of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Parliamentary permanent committee on environment soon showing their no-confidence in the forest department on the issue.
They also decided to conduct a shadow investigation into the killing incidents of wild elephants visiting the areas.