The picturesque environ of Dalma is abuzz with activities of over a dozen tuskers these days. After anchoring in Bengal jungles for almost a year, the elephants have started returning to their 192 sqkm Dalma reserve.
Officials of Dalma informed that over a dozen have come back while others are on their way. Others are expected to leave Mednipore and Bankura jungles shortly.Abundance of water and fodder had held up jumbos in forest of neighbouring Bengal. Jumbos generally return home to the reserve by the end of February or at the most the first week of March. But this year they overstayed in Bengal.
However, the 48-year-old elephant, Don who returned back to the Dalma wildlife sanctuary from the jungles of West Mednipore and Bankura, has started creating menace by attacking foresters and villagers at different locations.The tusker tired to attack range officer Mangal Kasyhap while he was heading for an inspection. The jumbo also attacked a forest official near Chittingdau on Wednesday morning.
“ The tusker is known for menace and we are keeping an eye on him. We will make sure for safety of nearby villages. This is temperamental and we need to be careful,” said Kasyhap.Another forester and his team also came across the tusker near Chittingdoo as Don appeared and chased them for half-a-kilometre.Sources informed that people are in nearby village of havoc due to such menace. Sometimes villagers migrate to safer places for a week or more to avoid the sudden night-time attacks of the wild elephant herds.
“The return of ‘Don’ to Dalma is a matter of great concern for us. Our lives are at risk due to rampaging elephants.Elephants regularly venture into villages, destroy houses, damage standing crops and even trample people to death. We are forced to work like a ‘night guard’ to save our lives and crops” said Ramesh Munda.
Notably, Dalma is the best elephant habitat of Jharkhand, where the pachyderms love to spend their summer. Dalma used to be pleasing with temperatures less than 30 degrees Celsius. But due to rising mercury over the years the elephants started migrating to green pastures.
The Forest department has made arrangements to keep them anchored in Dalma, by providing water and greenery.