Jumbo herd creates panic in Mayurbhanj

Bhubaneswar: Elephant menace is back to haunt Mayurbhanj district. A herd of 80 elephants was spotted near Rasgobindpur and Deuli forest ranges on Friday creating panic among villagers.
Around this time last year, people had deserted villages fearing jumbo attack. The pachyderms also damaged crops over 50 acres.
Baripada forest division sources said elephants from Jharkhand and West Bengal usually stray into Mayurbhanj in the second week of November.They have arrived a little early this year. "Around 200 regular and contractual forest personnel are monitoring the herd's movement. We are trying to keep them at least 7 km away from human habitations. So far, there has been no specific report of crop damage," said DFO (Baripada) Sanjay Kumar Swain.
The DFO said the herd crossed over to West Bengal in the evening. "The elephants move back to Odisha in the morning," he added.
Meanwhile, the forest department has sounded alert in 30 vulnerable villages. "By the time the herd is driven away, we anticipate crop loss on around 10 acres," a forest officer said.
In May last year, a tusker went on the rampage killing two persons and injuring one in Betanati block of the district. Three days later another elephant trampled two persons to death. No human casualties have been reported from the area this year.
Last year, the forest officers from Odisha held discussions with their West Bengal and Jharkhand counterparts in Tata to tackle the growing elephant menace. About 120 elephants from Jharkhand cross over to Odisha between November and December and are mostly sighted in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts, official sources said.