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Elephant
rescued from a ditch in West Bengal Jalpaiguri:
Forest rangers in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri District have rescued an elephant
that had fallen into a ditch. The elephant was passing through this route when
it slipped and fell into the ditch. Some of the tea garden workers saw it lying
there and informed the forest officials. Later, the forest officials rushed to
the spot with a crane and rescued the majestic elephant, believed to be around
11 years in age. The pachyderm was gently hauled up by the crane. After being
pulled out of the ditch, the elephant instantly was up on its feet and without
wasting a second fled from the spot towards the nearby forest. "Now, it is healthy.
We are feeling very nice. We have been able to save a beautiful animal," said
Niranjita Maitra, Assistant Wildlife Warden, Jalpaiguri Range. Over the past couple
of decades, India has struggled to tackle the problem of shrinking wildlife that
is attributed to encroachment by humans. The conflict often ends with villagers
killing elephants and wildlife experts say it is imperative to wean them away
from wildlife habitats by providing them alternative livelihood. Home to 50,000
wild Asian elephants a century ago, just 26,400 elephants were roaming India's
national parks and forests as per a census of 2002. Worse, the first comprehensive
elephant census published in 2005 showed a further steep drop in numbers to just
21,300 elephants. A recent survey by the Ministry of Environment reported a steady
depletion of forestland in 11 major wildlife reserves since 1997. According to
another survey, only 20 per cent of India's landmass is forested and just 120,000
square kilometres -- less than four percent of the country -- of that is suitable
for elephants. -May
31, 2009 Go
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