Jumbo Murders ; Elephants Continue to Be Killed On Railway Tracks Even As the Railways and Forest Departments Shrug Off Their Responsibility to Protect These Gentle Beasts Whose Numbers Are Dwindling Rapidly.

Summary

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It is one of life's bitter ironies. The mascot of the Indian Railways is an elephant named Bholu but the world's largest rail network is also among the biggest killers of these gentle giants. From Assam and West Bengal to Uttarakhand to Kerala, elephants are falling victim to onrushing trains. Since 1987, no less than 129 elephants have been killed on railway tracks across the country.

In the last two months, four elephants were killed by speeding trains between Palakkad in Kerala and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Their biggest deathtrap is this 35-km stretch across the Western Ghats forests through which 40 trains pass during the day and another 30 at night.

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Extract

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Jumbo Murders ; Elephants Continue to Be Killed On Railway Tracks Even As the Railways and Forest Departments Shrug Off Their Responsibility to Protect These Gentle Beasts Whose Numbers Are Dwindling Rapidly.

In the past one year alone, eight elephants were mowed down in this corridor. No wonder, wildlife experts are agitated over the proposal to lay a railway line between Nilambur and Nanjangod, an area which has more than 10 elephant corridors.

Since 2007, more than 10 elephants have been killed on the 180- km track between Alipurduar and Siliguri in West Bengal. Says S.B. Mond...

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