February 6, 2025
DHAKA – The deaths of several Asian elephants in the Chattogram region in recent times raise questions about our commitment to wildlife conservation. According to media reports, more than 30 elephants have been found dead in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas and Chattogram’s Anwara, Karnaphuli, and Banshkhali upazilas over the past decade. Last year, seven elephant deaths were recorded in Ukhiya and Teknaf alone.
Many of these elephants were electrocuted or shot dead, while others succumbed to hunger, malnutrition, and disease due to food shortages. Expanding human settlements, economic zones, and infrastructure built on elephant habitats and migratory routes are disrupting their natural movement, which typically spans 70-80 kilometres daily in search of food and water. In Ukhiya and Teknaf, the Rohingya refugee camps as well as the barbed-wire fence built by Myanmar government along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border have blocked five of the eight existing elephant corridors in Cox’s Bazar, making at least 15 water bodies inaccessible to the area’s 205 elephants.
Similarly, in Anwara and Karnaphuli, establishing the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) and the China Economic Zone by clearing forests—and without undertaking proper environmental feasibility studies, one may add—has further disrupted the life and habitat of the elephant population. Environmental conservation guidelines were also ignored during the construction of the Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway line, creating additional barriers for these animals. Alarmingly, many of the elephant deaths have occurred in reserved forests and wildlife sanctuaries. What is the purpose of declaring an area a “wildlife sanctuary” if we cannot ensure the safety of the wildlife within it?
There is reason to expect stronger action from the current interim government which claims itself to be pro-environment. In October, the environment adviser helped establish a committee in the KEPZ area to ensure the protection of wild elephants. However, more action is needed across all regions where human-elephant conflicts have been intensifying. The consequences of habitat degradation and destruction extend to humans as well, with 136 people estimated to have been killed by elephants in the last six years.
The government, therefore, must take urgent, visible measures to prevent deforestation, restore forest lands, implement reforestation initiatives, and ensure that the natural routes for elephant movement are never violated under any circumstances. Anti-nature infrastructure development projects undertaken by the Awami League government should also be critically reviewed. We must find a way to coexist with other species without endangering their survival.