Chitwan, Aug 14 – Conservationists in Nepal have voiced alarm over the rising number of wild male elephant deaths each year, warning of serious breeding challenges if the trend continues.

Dr Ashok Kumar Ram, Chief Conservation Officer at Bardiya National Park and a PhD in elephant ecology, said male elephants play a key role in both wild and captive breeding. “We have set up a breeding center in Sauraha, and wild males also mate with privately-owned females. If these wild males disappear, what is the purpose of the breeding center?” he said. “Killing elephants for vested interests is wrong, and it impacts our entire ecosystem.”

Data shows 58 elephants have been killed due to human activities in the past 15 years.

According to conservationist Dr Baburam Lamichhane, elephant killings are increasing from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west. Last year alone, 12 elephants were killed, most of them wild males. Nepal is home to around 200 wild elephants, and at the current rate of one male death per month, experts say the species will be extremely difficult to protect.

Posting on Facebook about recent elephant deaths, Dr Lamichhane questioned, “Are we really going to be the generation that fails to save elephants?”

Experts say human activity is largely to blame. Wild males often leave their herds in search of females, travelling long distances. In Sauraha, wild bulls such as Ronaldo, Dhruve, and Govinde regularly mate with females at the breeding center, producing over 20 offspring.

“If male elephants keep getting killed, one day the breeding center itself will become meaningless,” Dr Ram warned.

People’s News Monitoring Service