Herd on the rampage
- The Statesman
- 30 Dec 2013
Tourists click photos; farmers watch helplessly
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 29 December
While tourists brought out their cameras to take pictures of a herd of about 100 elephants, farmers stood helplessly as the animals devoured their standing crops at the Salboni forest area in Junglemahal.
Some people from nearby places even hired vehicles to reach the spot. Several people carried coconuts and bananas to feed the elephants while others took pictures with their cameras.
A forest official said: “Crowd control has become a major problem. We keep telling people the elephants can get violent. It is always safer to watch them in silence from a safe distance without disturbing them.”
The herd that included about 10 calves had come from Dalma range in Jharkhand and was now settled near Deulkunda village under Salboni police station. The animals damaged 18 houses, destroyed standing crops on over 25 acres of land and killed two buffaloes and seven goats, sources said. The entire village stayed away out of fear, they said, adding the herd continued to stay near the village.
Since the late 1980's, elephants from Bihar (now Jharkhand) have been entering Bengal during the monsoon. The number of elephants and the duration of their stay in south Bengal has gone up over the years, worsening man-animal conflict in the densely populated districts of Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. On an average, five people and an elephant die and hundreds of hectares of crops are destroyed each year.
Forest officials said several night patrolling teams had been organised in the area, each team armed with crackers, torch, siren, fireball and a vehicle to drive away the elephants in case they attacked villages close to the forests.
“We asked people not to prepare handia (a local brew using mahul flower) during the period, because its smell attracts elephants the most,” the official said.
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 29 December
While tourists brought out their cameras to take pictures of a herd of about 100 elephants, farmers stood helplessly as the animals devoured their standing crops at the Salboni forest area in Junglemahal.
Some people from nearby places even hired vehicles to reach the spot. Several people carried coconuts and bananas to feed the elephants while others took pictures with their cameras.
A forest official said: “Crowd control has become a major problem. We keep telling people the elephants can get violent. It is always safer to watch them in silence from a safe distance without disturbing them.”
The herd that included about 10 calves had come from Dalma range in Jharkhand and was now settled near Deulkunda village under Salboni police station. The animals damaged 18 houses, destroyed standing crops on over 25 acres of land and killed two buffaloes and seven goats, sources said. The entire village stayed away out of fear, they said, adding the herd continued to stay near the village.
Since the late 1980's, elephants from Bihar (now Jharkhand) have been entering Bengal during the monsoon. The number of elephants and the duration of their stay in south Bengal has gone up over the years, worsening man-animal conflict in the densely populated districts of Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. On an average, five people and an elephant die and hundreds of hectares of crops are destroyed each year.
Forest officials said several night patrolling teams had been organised in the area, each team armed with crackers, torch, siren, fireball and a vehicle to drive away the elephants in case they attacked villages close to the forests.
“We asked people not to prepare handia (a local brew using mahul flower) during the period, because its smell attracts elephants the most,” the official said.
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