Rogue elephant ostracised

By Kamna Mathur

Dudhwa (Lakhimppur) Uttar Pradesh, March 23 : Elephants at the Dudhwa National Park have punished an elephant with isolation who had turned a nuisance for all due to its rowdy behaviour. The pachyderm was causing chaos all around.

The incident has come to the knowledge of Rangers at the Dudhwa National Park.

Sanctuary guides and Rangers say that that the jumbo is a male and has been boycotted by other elephants after turning violent and misbehaving with others. Mohammad Naseem, a guide at the Dudhwa National Park, noted that this particular tusker used to break all barriers set and even attack people.

"This tusker has been ostracised by its herd because it is very unpredictable. Such tuskers are so dangerous that they uproot whatever things come their way. This particular elephant is on heat and any male on heat is very dangerous," said Mohammad Naseem at the Dudhwa National Park.

When in 'Mast' state, tuskers are known to lead a lonely life. But the guides observed that this tusker would hurt other elephants for no reason and consequently, the head of the herd must have prompted its banishment.

"Like among humans anyone behaving indecently is started ignoring, elephants do the same among them. That's why they are called rogue elephants and these lead a solitary life," said Santosh Shrivastava, a Ranger at the Dudhwa National Park.

This rogue tusker used to veer off the usual paths followed by elephants and on many occasions, the guides and Ranges had resort to odd means to keep it at bay lest the human settlements are attacked.

Dudhwa, a Tiger Reserve since 1879, was declared a National Park in 1977 and adopted the Project Tiger in 1988. Although there are many tigers at the Park, sightings are rare due to the thick forest cover of the area. Besides, there are Leopards, Hispid Hares, Swamp Deer (Barasingha) and Rhinos thrive amidst the vegetation.

Apart from the swamp deer, there are at least 37 species of mammals and 16 species of reptiles. Recently, the hispid hare was also spotted in the area.

ANI