A wild Asian Elephant in Western Ghats, South India |
Veerappan may be long gone, but poaching still tops the list as the major reason for elephant mortality during the last three decades in the Nilgiris. Trying to untangle the hidden patterns of elephant mortality in the Nilgiris reported during the 33 year period between 1979 to 2011, a new study reveals that 40 percent of the total elephant deaths from the region during the period were due to poaching.