Indians mourn elephants killed by power lines

This video from India says about itself:

Two elephants die of electrocution in tea garden – ANI News

Siliguri, Sep 11 2016 (ANI): Two elephants were found dead in Kiranchandra tea garden, 30km from Siliguri under Darjeeling district of West-Bengal. The villagers yesterday alleged that elephants from Bagdogra forest used to come to their villages regularly to feed on paddy crops and the tuskers might have been electrocuted after coming in contact with the electric pole.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

Electrocuted elephants get funeral in India

Today, 15:25

Two elephants have been given a ceremonial funeral in a town in northeast India. The animals were electrocuted yesterday by a high voltage cable on a tea plantation.

Dozens of residents of Darjeeling town came to the farewell ceremony for the elephants. The Indians laid flowers on the dead bodies of the animals. Some crouched at the corpses to pray. Many Indians consider elephants to be sacred animals.

High voltage cable

The animals belonged to a herd of thirty elephants crossing the tea plantation. “These two became entangled in high-voltage cables,” says an Indian ranger. “Because it was raining hard, the animals were electrocuted.”

According to the villagers first one of the elephants got stuck in the power lines. The other animal is said to have become trapped when it tried to free its comrade.

Elephants play an important role in Hinduism, the most numerous religion in India. One of the principal Hindu deities Shri Ganesh is depicted with the head of an elephant.

It looks like these elephants might have been still alive, if that power line would have been either underground or so high that it could not harm elephants or other wildlife. Work should start now making power lines safe for wildlife, in Darjeeling and all over the world. The example of Sudan shows this is possible.