A wild elephant has died after being shot by national park staff. According to the Chitwan National Park office, the elephant, known as “Makuna,” a tuskless male, succumbed to the gunshot wound.
The park authorities stated that they were compelled to fire for self-defense, which ultimately led to Makuna’s death. The encounter occurred around 3:30 PM on Wednesday in the Lamital area of Kumroj Buffer Zone Community Forest, located in the eastern region of the national park.
According to Avinash Thapa Magar, the conservation officer and information officer of the park, several elephants, along with national park personnel and soldiers from the Nepalese Army’s New Gorakh Battalion ‘A’ Company in Sauraha, were patrolling the eastern sector to drive the elephant back into the park’s inner area.
“Makuna directly attacked ‘Chure Gaj,’ one of the patrolling elephants. As there were no other options, two rounds of warning shots were fired. Even after that, the elephant did not retreat and continued attacking, causing ranger Shyam Tamang, who was riding on a small elephant named ‘Khagendra Prasad,’ to fall off, making it extremely difficult to ensure his safety,” the park’s press release stated. At that point, three additional rounds of warning shots were fired.
After the warning shots, Makuna initially ran away but soon returned. At that point, one more round was fired at the elephant. Later, at around 1:30 PM, the elephant was found collapsed, and two hours later, a team of veterinarians declared it dead.
Male elephants in Nepal typically have long tusks, but tuskless male elephants like Makuna are very rare. Experts state that such elephants are uncommon in Nepal and only found in small numbers in India. However, they are more abundant in Sri Lanka. Some Makuna elephants migrate to Nepal from India, particularly to the eastern region. Experts had speculated that the elephant seen in Chitwan was one of them.
Makuna was first spotted in Kumroj, Chitwan, in December last year. Since October this year, it had been frequently seen near human settlements in the Sauraha-Kumroj region, close to the national park.
