Baripada/Jashipur: After a brief hiatus, two more elephants reportedly died in Similipal area of Mayurbhanj district Saturday. The casualties drove home the point that Similipal is not yet safe for the jumbos, locals said.
According to reports, the carcasses of a 20-year old jumbo and its 3-month-old calf were spotted in a paddy field in Jashipur area on the foothills of Similipal Saturday.
Tension gripped the area after the carcasses were found, with villagers alleging that no forest officials visited the place despite bring informed.
According to villagers, the elephant duo was found dead on the farmland of Sukra Prayankar at Kalamposi village. The villagers had heard the elephants trumpeting loudly, probably due to illness, at about 7pm Friday.
At about 9pm, some villagers went to the place where the sound of the elephants was heard, but the two elephants were found dead. The villagers immediately informed forest officials of Gurugudia range.
The elephants had damaged the paddy of Sukra.
They said that for the last two days, a herd of elephants from neighbouring Jharkhand had been unleashing mayhem and damaging paddy in 40 to 50 acres of land. It is suspected that some farmers might have applied pesticides or placed poisonous food on paddy fields to ward off the animals.
The elephants might have eaten the poisoned paddy plants and died.
Contacted, Gurugudia ranger Madhusudan Patra said the death of the elephants might have been due to anthrax, as blood stains are found in their droppings and urine.
The villagers expressed their unhappiness over the fact that no high-level official visited the spot to take stock of the crop damage.
They are bracing up to stage a demonstration over the compensation. Veterinary surgeons have conducted post-mortem of the carcass. Later, Karanjia DFO Prasanna Kumar Behera along with a team of veterinarians visited the spot.
Jumbo repulsing squad attacked
Champua: A squad set up to drive away elephants from human habitations was assaulted by some villagers in Chamakpur area under Champua range in Keonjhar district Friday night. A complaint was lodged with local police. Friday night, a squad was in Chamakpur when some youths attacked some squad members. PNN
