Death panel set up for elephants

Jalpaiguri,(Tarai Dooars) June 30: The forest department has formed a committee that would decide if the two train-hit elephants can be put down, especially since the animals have hardly shown signs of improvement.

Forest minister Hiten Barman held a meeting with senior forest officials at Gorumara around 7pm today to select the members of the committee.

After the meeting the minister told the reporters that there would be five members in the body.

“We are calling in two veterinarians from Assam, one from the Alipore Zoo, a member of a wildlife NGO and a representative of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Calcutta. They will review the condition of the two elephants and inform us about the next step by Saturday,” Barman said.

The forest minister said he had been monitoring the injured animals on a regular basis.

“There is no facility available to treat the elephant with the broken hip. However, the committee will submit a report and it is up to the chief wildlife warden to pass the order to put them to sleep,” said the minister.

The two elephants were hit by a moving train near Banarhat station on Saturday night.

While one elephant was brought to the Gorumara National Park the next day and is being treated there , the other animal is in Diana forest near the accident spot.

The elephant had limped to the Diana forest after the accident.

“The chief wildlife warden is the only authority who can issue the relevant order in case the committee recommends that the animals should be put out of misery,” said the chief conservator of forests (wildlife) for north Bengal, Rajkumar Mahatolia, who was also present in the meeting.

A veterinary surgeon from the Alipore Zoo in Calcutta, Swapan Ghosh, is in charge of the treatment of the two animals.

Divisional forest officer, Sumita Ghatak said the 15-year-old female elephant at Gorumara has her left hind leg and hip completely broken.

“Today she ate a small quantity of jackfruit and bananas but she is in great pain. The other female elephant in Diana has her left leg broken and she is being given water and banana plant stalks. Their suffering is unbearable. They are being given pain killers and we have been sending medical bulletins every morning and evening to our headquarters in Calcutta,” Ghatak said.

Two years ago an elephant that was injured in a train accident was put to sleep.

“We had to put down an elephant that had been badly injured by a train in Buxa about two years ago after forming a committee and the chief wildlife warden issuing the order,” said Ghatak.

- The Telegraph