From Our Correspondent
TURA, Aug 23: Making a clarion call to end illegal wildlife trade, the office of the Director Balpakram National Park, South Garo Hills, in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India, on Wednesday, organised a programme thematised on ‘World Elephant Day’ at District Sports Playground Baghmara.
The Deputy Commissioner of South Garo Hills, S Awasthi, informed the gathering that some species of elephants are considered endangered, while cautioning that if measures are not taken to conserve them, the future generation will only see them in pictures.
“We have around 30,000 elephants in our country from which 1600 to 1700 belongs to our state so it is a huge number considering the overall ratio compared to the whole area covered by the country. So it gives us a lot of responsibilities to make sure that the number keeps on increasing and we conserve them,” the Deputy Commissioner said, while urgeing upon the Forest Officer to take adequate steps to ensure the elephant corridors are free from any kind of obstacles.
Recalling the incident that took place recently where a BSF personnel was brutally killed by elephants, he appealed to the Forest Officer to organise more awareness programmes on various Dos and Don’ts and some of the safety measures to implement when encountering elephants.
As part of the programme, a friendly football match was organised where Raksam Mahari beat Tegite Mahari 3-0.
Among others who were present included Director Balpakram National Park, Rimse K Sangma, and BT Sangma, Assistant Manager, Wildlife Trust of India.
