A HEARTBREAKING LOSS IN KERALA REMINDS US WHY WE FIGHT FOR CONSERVATION

It breaks my heart to share this, but we are seeing another devastating tragedy unfolded for wild elephants. Just yesterday, on June 27, 2026, a makhna (tuskless male) elephant died in the Malayattoor forests of Kerala, India. The suspected cause? Severe mouth injuries from chewing on fruit stuffed with explosives.

What makes this even more painful is the bitter irony: the tragedy occurred a single day after senior forest officials met to discuss elephant reserve management effectiveness. It is also the second horrific explosive-related elephant death in that exact region in just two months.

This isn't an isolated incident. The Parambikulam-Munnar–Malayattoor sector has become a known mortality hotspot. As human environments push deeper into natural habitats, crop-raiding leads to a vicious cycle of retaliation. A recent expert study revealed that 744 wild elephants died in Kerala between 2019 and 2025, with 77 of those explicitly linked to human-induced causes like rapidly rising electrocutions, poaching, and these cruel explosive traps (often meant for wild boars, but claiming innocent elephants and juveniles instead).

We cannot look away from this "death zone." Conservation cannot just be about meetings and evaluations on paper; it requires urgent, actionable, and compassionate solutions on the ground to protect these magnificent, sentient beings before it's too late.