Could lightning have killed 18 elephants in India?

Authorities and experts from the northwestern Indian state of Assam are investigating the circumstances under which 18 elephants were killed and their bodies were found this week in a forest called Kandali near Nagaon.

The incident, now documented with pictures, would have taken place in the Kandali Reserve forest in Nagaon district from Wednesday night to Thursday.

First editions of neighboring and rural agents Animals may have died as a result of a strong electric storm, in particular, by the action of one or more lightning strikes.

Other versions indicate that elephants may have died accidentally or prematurely as a result of poisoning, recalling incidents in which farmers in some parts of India complained that elephants were occupying forests and destroying their crops. In contrast, in other areas, elephants continue to be exploited in tourist activities and as a labor force (Look inside Vanguard)

Assam Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by the death of the animals. AFP.

“It is very painful to see elephants die like this, but we have to wait for the report. Postmortem To find out the exact cause of his death, ”he told reporters at the scene, about 150 kilometers south of the state capital Guwahati.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma said in a statement that she was concerned about the death of “many elephants”.

The Assam government sent a team of veterinarians to the Bamuni Hills area, where the elephants died under mysterious circumstances.

In India, some media outlets have spread incidents of mutilating the bodies of dead animals as a mark of respect.

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Veterinarians will autopsy the dead elephants and submit a report to the authorities.

But some guards suspect that several animals may have been killed at the same time.

The lightning hypothesis should be rejected, according to Samyadeep Dutta, a renowned environmentalist in Assam who has carefully observed the photos published by the press.

“There may be poison behind the deaths of these elephants,” said Samyadeep Dutta, head of Nature’s Beacon, a nature conservation organization.

“If the elephants are not killed by lightning, the government should ensure that the culprits … are brought to justice,” Dutta continued, eager to release the autopsy report, the “relevant” thing.

“Lightning has never killed wild elephants in Assam or Northeast India. If it is a massacre, immediate action should be taken to arrest the culprits,” he said.

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Bipap Talukdar, an environmentalist and head of the Wildlife Conservation Organization, did not rule out the lightning hypothesis for his part.

“I have been in contact with activists in Africa … who told me that a similar incident had taken place, where herds of deer were struck by lightning,” he said.

Number of Asian elephants (The biggest elephant) Is estimated to be about 30,000 specimens from India, which represents almost 60% of the wild population of this species.

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