Quote:40 elephants done to death in 3 years



Inter-State ivory peddlers are flourishing in Kerala despite the vigil mounted by the police and Forest department. Authorities admit the number of elephants — both wild and tamed — falling victim to these rackets is increasing by the year.



Forest officials call the criminals ‘ivory mafia’. Ivory worth crores of rupees had been seized by the department personnel in 2009 but smuggling of ivory has still not stopped. Officials say the seized ivory may not constitute even half the volume of the contraband being smuggled out of the State.



According to the department, at least 12 wild elephants died in the past three years but when the bodies were found by wildlife guards, their tusks and teeth were missing. Officials say the ivory mafia manages to extract them before the Forest personnel spot the bodies. The department had identified at least three cases of poaching last year, all related to tusk-extraction and peddling.



The average weight of the tusks of a fully grown tusker could come up to 75 kg. The domestic price of ivory is Rs 16,000 per kg and this could be much higher in the international market. This means that the tusks of an elephant could fetch up to Rs 12 lakh for the owner, the officials said.



“This is about the elephants that died of natural causes or in accidents. One estimate is that about 40 elephants had become victims of mafia-backed poachers in three years,” said an official.



The usual method adopted by the poachers to kill wild elephants is to first catch them by planting allu — planks with nails jutting out — on the elephant corridors. Poachers also use low-intensity explosives hidden in huge balls of jaggery that explode in the mouths of the pachyderms. They also shoot elephants to death occasionally, according to officials. Since the killings take place in deep forests, the authorities come to know later.