Jumbos run amok

Keonjhar: The wild elephants have destroyed over a dozen of houses and trampling croplands at villages in the Champua forest range jurisdiction.

The herd, which had strayed into the villages, are from the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district. The elephants had migrated to the villages a fortnight ago. However, they had been driven away to their habitat. But, they reappeared again on Wednesday evening, said forest officials.

Though the jumbos have caused damaged to property and farm lands, so far no human casualty or injury has been reported.

The villages affected by elephant depredation are Banika, Katulikana, Tunutuna near the dense forest areas in Champua range.

The animals led their habitation corridor of Similipal Tiger Reserve and traversed through over 100km of hilly terrains and dense forest to stray into the reserve forest. The villages, where the elephants have strayed, are home to about 6,000 residents.

Skilled service group of elephant chasers are keeping round-the-clock watch on the animals. The GPS-tracking teams have spotted the jumbos' movements near the villages. They are on the job to chase them from there.

"As the location of elephants has been tracked, we are hopeful of blocking the animals' movement route to the villages and drive them away," the official said.

Odisha, which houses 70 per cent of total elephant population in east India, has been witnessing deteriorating human-elephant conflict with jumbo depredation spreading to 26 out of 30 districts of the state. The wild animals wander villages searching for food due to shrinking habitats.

Elephant attack

A five-year-old girl, who was sleeping at home, was killed after an elephant herd went on rampage at Basupali village in Katarbaga police limits of Sambalpur on Thursday.


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Anthrax fear in elephant death

Keonjhar: The death of an adult female elephant, suspected to be caused by anthrax, at a forest-side village in the district has spread panic among local residents.

The carcass of the 20-year-old elephant was recovered from near Pitaspala village in Hadagada forest range on Thursday. Preliminary diagnosis by veterinary surgeons suggest that it was a case of anthrax.

As a precautionary measure, the forest department has undertaken a sensitisation drive and urged farmers to avoid using the spot from where the elephant's carcass was recovered.

"The villagers have been asked to stop grazing their cattle in the area for at least a week," said Anandpur forest division divisional forest officer Ajit Kumar Satpathy.

The forest department has started an immunisation drive to vaccinate domesticated animals in the village.

The animal was buried after applying chemicals for quick decay of the body.

"Cremation of the infected body was a better option to check the possible spread of the anthrax bacteria. However, going by local tradition, the forest department opted to bury it," Satpathy said.

"Anthrax is an air-borne disease. So, we are sensitising the people to prevent it from spreading," he said.

Howerver, the elephant was buried without a post-mortem examination. According to protocol of the animal resources department, there is no autopsy of animals that die from anthrax to prevent the spread of the bacteria.

Blood samples taken from the carcass's ear-tip were sent to the Animal Husbandry College of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology for a pathological investigation.

"There were ample physical indications that led us to believe that the animal died of anthrax. There was nasal bleeding, which is indicative of anthrax infection. There were no other external injuries on the animal," the divisional forest officer said.

The village from where the death was reported is close to the elephants' habitation corridor.


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