Tragedy as seven wild elephants electrocuted by power lines in India

555 Seven wild elephants were electrocuted in a "tragic accident" in Dhenkanal district in Odisha, India last night (October 26). A herd of 13 elephants, which was passing through the Kamalanga village looking for food, came in contact with sagging live electric wire. While seven succumbed to injuries, six elephants escaped. Local villagers spotted the scattered carcasses of seven elephants, including a tusker and five females, on a water canal on the morning of October 27. They alerted forest officials, who rushed to the spot, and found that the herd had come in contact an 11 KV power line laid by the railway department for track construction work. Sudarshan Panda, Additional Principal Conservator of Forest, said: "We are ascertaining the circumstances under which the tragic incident has occurred." Dhenkanal district, a well-known elephant corridor in India, has witnessed frequent Electrocution of elephants. In Dhenkanal district, a well-known elephant corridor, electrocution has emerged as a major cause of elephant death. But this is the highest casualty of elephants in a single incident in Odisha. Honorary Wildlife Warden Subhendu Mallik said: "The forest department should arrest those responsible for this atrocity. Unless an example is set, these incidents will recur."

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