Mayurbhanj: A herd of elephants from Jharkhand wreaked havoc in Mahisasuli village under Karanjia forest range in Mayurbhanj district Thursday night.
The herd strayed into the village and ransacked several houses in Mahisasuli area apart from destroying acres of paddy and vegetable cultivation, locals said. The herd comprises 22 elephants including calves. The elephants strayed into human settlement in search of food causing huge losses to the locals.
It should be mentioned here that elephants often come out of forests at night and damage crops and property. The increasing frequency of their attacks has caused panic among locals who have asked the forest department to take concrete steps to prevent the elephants from straying into human settlements.
On being informed, forest department officials rushed to the village and launched an operation to drive away the jumbos.
While the movement of elephants is being constantly monitored, necessary steps to deal with the elephant menace is underway, forest officials said.
Meanwhile in another incident of human-animal conflict, a youth of Barakhol village was killed in an elephant attack in Athamallik area of Angul district, December 26. The deceased has been identified as Bichitra Majhi.
Bichitra had gone to graze cattle when he was attacked by an elephant and who trampled him to death.
On being informed, forest officials reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem.
PNN
