Forest officials drive back 109 elephants into West Midnapore forests from Bankura

Forest officials drive back 109 elephants into West Midnapore forests from Bankura

Hummingbird News Desk

BANKURA, 6 APRIL: The two-day initiative of the Forest Department to drive wild elephants back into West Midnapore forest from Bankura came to an end on Wednesday.

Inside Post Content (After X Paragraph)

As many as 109 wild elephants finally left the Bankura jungles in two phases in last two days and they have entered in the forests of Garbeta in neighbouring West Midnapore district.

The Dalma range elephants had entered Bankura in four phases from 6 February. The last herd comprising 65 elephants had entered on 9 March. The herds got distributed horizontally but camped in different locations under the Bankura (North) Forest Division.

They killed two villagers since February and three elephants died during the period. Yesterday late evening, 42 elephants were pushed back from Barjora through Beliatore-Sonsmukhi-Patrasayar elephant corridor.

After the last group crossed the Dwarakeswar river, the Forest officials and the residents had a sigh of relief as the pachyderms had made extensive damage to the croplands over the period. The herd was finally routed to Garbeta through Belshuli jungle pass, the DFO, Bishnupur, Satyajit Roy said. On Monday, the jumbo herd comprising 109 elephants assembled from Barjora and Beliatore Ranges entered into the Panchet Soil Conservation Division in Bishnupur.

The elephants were feeling distressed due to sudden rise in temperature over one week. The ponds inside the jungles were getting parched, which further caused inconvenience.

“We’ve sought intervention by the Chief Conservator of Forests S Sengupta yesterday,” said Jharna Ganguly, secretary, ‘My Dear Trees and Wild’ – an NGO working on wildlife. She added: “The killing of two elephants by electrocution in Beliatore last month has also been brought to the notice of Sengupta.”

Currently, 19 elephants known as resident elephants of Bankura forests are roaming in their chosen pockets, said Kalyan Rai, DFO, Bankura (North). 

Tags: #Elephants #DriveBack #WestMidnaporeForests #BankuraForest #DFO

Share and Enjoy !

Below Post Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *