Depredation by elephants in Orissa villages

Baripada, Dec 7 (UNI) A herd of twelve wild elephants, led by an adult bull elephant from the neighbouring Jharkhand, has sneaked into Orissa's Mayurbhanj district.

The herd had been causing depredations in some villages under Jashipur and Raruan blocks of the district since Tuesday last, Forest department sources said here today.

The crop-raiding herd comprising one bull, eight cow elephants and three calves had caused extensive damages to the standing kharif paddy crop in Jharbeda and Batisahi panchayats under Raruan block and Baunsanali, Manda and Jamkeshar panchayats of Jashipur blocks, villagers alleged in a petition to the Forest department.

Gudgudia range officer Kalakar Mohanty said the actual extent of loss suffered by the villagers would be known after a detailed assessment.

Meanwhile, the migrant elephants had been sighted in the Dayaposi Forest compartment, close to the Jharkhand border. The villagers had urged the wildlife officials to push back the herd to their wild habitat in Jharkhand.

UNI XC DP SJC AKP2057