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The water crisis in and around Bengaluru has now claimed the lives of two elephants. The two individuals, both males, reportedly wandered over 50 kilometres (km) in search of water till finally succumbing to thirst in Ramanagara district, barely 35 km from the metropolitan area of Bengaluru, according to reports.
The elephants reportedly died due to suspected dehydration and heatstroke. This points to the dangers of water scarcity and scorching heat on wildlife, especially during dry periods, according to the forest officials.
The carcass of the first elephant, a 30-year-old individual, was found in Yalavanatha village. It is located in the Kanakapura taluk of Ramnagara district. The second elephant, a younger male of age 14 years, was found dead in Bettahalli just as few kilometres away.
Widespread death of animals dying of thirst and hunger hasn’t been reported in Karnataka currently (April 2024). But officials in the wildlife division of Karnataka’s Ministry of Forest and Ecology pointed out that water availability at the moment is very low. The two elephants might have fed on dry forage, which might have affected their gut, resulting in loss of water and leading to life-threatening dehydration.
Scientists from the Centre for Ecological Studies at the Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru confirmed that dry forage might have triggered the elephants’ deaths.
“When water in the forest area decreases, it also acquires additional biomaterial like algae and bacteria, bringing down the quality of water. This might also trigger serious health issues and threats to life,” Raman Sukumar, India’s top elephant researcher told Down To Earth (DTE).
Nishanth Srinivas is a senior scientist and researcher on ecology at the Centre for Ecological Studies. He has extensively researched on elephant movements and behavioural patterns in arid zones, said: “Elephants are very resilient to changing surroundings. In many cases, they do migrate from one place to another for foraging. Travelling 20-30 km in a day is no problem for them.”
He added that in this case, the two elephants’ death defied the natural tendency of the animals to migrate long distances for foraging.
“The Cauvery river is close by and they could have easily migrated to safer places along the banks of the river, drinking fresh water and foraging food that has water content, which elephants generally do,” said Srinivas.
Both, Sukumar and Srinivas, pointed out that “we cannot discount the fact that there are things like natural selection. Elephants do die in an extremely dry season like the one we are experiencing currently. But when the season changes, we can see life bloom again and the losses, as we know, will be compensated. That is the natural cycle in the wild.”
Experts in the state forest department said the older individual that died in Yalavunath was being monitored by department staff.
It had been spotted in villages, farms and even small towns in the taluk. It was also seen wildly and aimlessly moving around in the forest area. The elephant might have roamed around over 50 km before giving up.
The experts also pointed out that the elephant may have consumed excessive numbers of mangoes, exacerbating its condition.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru recorded its highest temperature in five years on March 29, prompting the India Meteorological Department to issue a heatwave alert.
The situation has not improved 10 days later. Weather watchers stated that Ramanagara, which is at the fringe of the Bengaluru metropolitan area and about 200 km from Bengaluru proper, is likely to be under extreme heat conditions, recording over 40 degrees Celsius (°C) which actually may feel like 42°C.
The forest department is working on a replenishment drive right from the edge of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve to the Dubare and Biligiriranga hill ranges by lining the water holes in the forests with impermeable material for the rest of the season.
The water holes are also being filled with water from other sources around the region. But there are logistic challenges and funding problems, they pointed out.