Unfortunate.

This is happening at an alarming regularity. The impact is enormous. The death of a few elephants means wiping out a small herd, since these days lot of herds are fragmented. The genetic diversity is getting lost.

An elephant needs 22 months of gestation period for delivery. So replenishment of a population takes a long time if adult male and female elephants of breeding age are available. Considering that everyday the elephants are losing a part of their territory to enchroachment. Poaching continues unabated. And on top of that this menace of speeding train threatens to exterminate our elephants from a lot of areas.

The response of the Railway authorities is hillarious.

Quote Originally Posted by Abhishek Jamalabad View Post

"The train hit the elephant herd squatting on the track. The train driver probably did not see the herd because of dense fog," said the Northeast Frontier Railways chief spokesperson, Mr S. Hajong.

Witnesses said that the crash cut the calves after dragging them for about 200 metres.
Elephants are not cattle and they don't squat like cattle on a railway track. Since the train dragged the calves for 200 meters, one can safely know that the train was on top speed.

It is high time that we find alternate alignments for our railway tracks and till that time, the trains should move at a reduced speed when it is passing through wildlife corridors.

Our concerned members may write to the Hon'ble minister for Railways, Kumari Mamata Banerjee
Room No. 239, Railway Bhawan, New Delhi 110001, Fax: 23387333.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi