On Sunday night another goods train killed three spotted deers two days after an elephant was knocked down by a goods train in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha.
Cuttack divisional forest officer Sudarshan Patra said that the mishap took place when the herd of deers was crossing the railway tracks at Dhalatangada forest in Gopalpur area under of Jagatsinghpur district. “Our team of officials are at the spot and trying to gather more details”said Patra.
Spotted deers are listed under Schedule 3 of Wildlife Protection Act which means they are endangered and under the threat of extinction.
On Friday, a female elephant in Dhenkanal district was similarly knocked dead by a goods train. The elephant which was part of a herd, was crossing the railway tracks at Barada level crossing under Sadar police limits when the mishap occurred. The train was running at such a high speed that it dragged the elephant for about 500 metres. However, other elephants managed to escape.
In November last year, a female elephant was knocked to death by a train in Keonjhar district. The year 2018-19 has turned out to be a graveyard for elephants in Odisha with reports of more and more jumbo deaths being reported from all over the State with unfailing regularity. While 80 elephants have so far died in 2018-19, an equal number of human deaths have been killed in man-elephant conflict during the same period.