As many as 38 elephants and nine tigers died due to electrocution, poaching and infighting, in Chhattisgarh over the last 26 months, state forest minister Kedar Kashyap informed the legislative assembly on Tuesday.
In addition, 562 other wild animals , including leopards, bears, blue bulls and cheetal, died during the same period due to different causes, Kashyap said in a written reply to a question by Congress MLA Sheshraj Harbansh.
Harbansh had sought details of tiger and elephant deaths in the state between December 2023 and January 2026, including their locations, time and causes. He also asked for species-wise and forest division-wise details of unnatural deaths of other wildlife during the period.
In his reply, Kashyap told the House that nine tigers and 38 elephants died during the period.
According to the data provided by the forest department, two of the tiger deaths occurred due to electrocution caused by illegal electric fencing installed by poachers, while two others were attributed to infighting among the animals.
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{{/usCountry}}An eight-year-old tiger from Raipur’s Nandan Van Zoo and Safari also died on October 10 last year at Vantara, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district, due to multiple organ failure, the minister said.
Among the 38 elephant deaths recorded during the period, 14 were caused by electrocution and 10 due to drowning, according to the reply.
The minister further said that of the 562 deaths of other wild animals, 145 were reported at Nandan Van Zoo and Safari in Raipur — five in December 2023, 61 in 2024, 76 in 2025 and three in January 2026. The causes included infighting, asphyxia, heat stroke, pneumonia and infection, he added.