In Odisha’s Mayurbhanj, elephant’s surprise stroll shocks villagers; officials try to send jumbo back in forest

Cases of man-animal conflicts have been on a rise for a couple of years now. Many wild animals are seen entering districts, either due to human activities or they lose their path. Situations like these can result in tragedies where either animal is hurt or humans lose their lives. Recently, in Gopabandhunagar block of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, a wild elephant was seen roaming in a village. A tweet by ANI citing the Forest Department noted that the wild elephant had come from West Bengal and it got separated from the herd. Currently, the officials are trying to chase the elephant away into jungles.

The news agency also shared a video where the elephant can be seen roaming across the village streets without knowing where to go. A huge crowd seems to be following the officials trying to chase the elephant into the jungles, so that any tragedy can be avoided.

In India, many incidents have been occuring where man-animal conflict has cost lives. According to various local reports, incidents where elephants were involved took place across states. Early in March, at Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand, a 55-year old man was trampled by an elephant, and eventually died. In February too, Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand witnessed a similar case where a man was killed by an elephant. The same elephant reportedly barged into nearby shops later and also destroyed a transport van.

Odisha: An elephant was seen roaming in a village under Gopabandhunagar block in Mayurbhanj district on Wednesday

“The wild elephant got separated from the herd which came from West Bengal. We are trying to chase the elephant away into jungles,” said Forest Department pic.twitter.com/Af9JrjdXsR

— ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2021

#WATCH | An elephant was seen roaming in a village in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district yesterday pic.twitter.com/bxRDlxOOwN

— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2021

Meanwhile, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar stated that the government will now be releasing LiDAR-based reports that will map out the water requirement within forest areas in 10 states of India. The technology will help in identifying the presence of groundwater in forest areas so that any wild animal does not venture outside the forest areas in search of water. As of now, the surveys have been carried out at forest areas in Bihar, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra.