Gunning down of Laden inside an Assam forest area has evoked sharp reaction.
No, it was not Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist on the planet, but a wild elephant proclaimed rogue by the Assam Wildlife and Forest Department.
Wildlife protection groups, including the state chapter of WWF-India are up in arms against the killing of the 'rogue' elephant, as they believe that such a drastic step will hardly help solve the raging man-elephant conflict in Assam.
The non profit organisations are of the opinion that instead of opting for short-term measure like eliminating rogue elephants, the approach of the state wildlife department should have been to address the root of the problem -- to check rampant destruction of elephant habitats and migration corridors by encroachers.
The gunned-down wild elephant was a member of a herd that had been on rampage in northern Assam districts of Sonitpur and North Lakhimpur since October. It was declared rogue by the state wildlife department after it allegedly killed four members of a family, including two infants at village near Jamugurihaat on November 19 last.
The wildlife department contracted a licensed hunter to kill the rogue elephant. The pachyderm was finally shot dead by the hunter on December 16 last inside Behali Reserve Forest area in Sonitpur district. But the killing of Laden by the terror-stricken villagers has sparked loud protests in the state.
Several frontline NGOs, including Nature's Bonyapran, Aaranyak, WWF-India, Dolphin Foundation, CEE-NE, Ecosystems India and Nature's Beckon, have aired that such system of proclaiming an elephant rogue and killing it would hardly help solving the man-elephant