Two incidents of suspected wild elephant attacks near the India-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district in the past 10 days that resulted in the death of a farmer and injuries to another have put the state Forest Department on a high alert.
In the latest incident, Punnu Mandal, 61, a farmer, was trampled to death by an elephant when he was sleeping in a thatched hut at Dhakiya Talluke Maharajpur village on Saturday night. The next kin of the deceased will be paid Rs 5 lakh as compensation, it was announced.
The previous incident took place at Ujhainia village on October 24, when two elephants attacked and seriously injured Shyam Lal, 32, also a farmer.
The animals involved in the attacks are believed to have strayed into the Indian side from the Shuklaphanta National Park in Nepal, which lies close to the international border, in search of food and water.
In the wake of these incidents, officials have urged the residents living near the border to remain alert and take precautionary measures as advised by the department.
The department is closely monitoring the movement of elephants and track their routes. Officials are visiting nearby villages to warn residents about the animals’ presence. The teams are also working to prevent any further conflict between people and elephants by not only alerting villagers but also restricting their movement near forest areas, especially at night.
“We are regularly alerting people about the presence of tigers in the area, but after these recent incidents, we are also warning them about elephants,” said Manish Singh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Pilibhit. “People are being advised not to stay or sleep alone outside their houses, especially at night,” he added.
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The incident at Dhakiya Talluke Maharajpur came to light early Sunday morning when villagers noticed his damaged hut. Upon checking, they found Punnu Mandal’s body inside, with clear signs of an elephant attack.
Forest officials later confirmed that elephant footprints were found near the site.
Village pradhan Vivekanand Sarkar did not respond to phone calls.
The forest officials said the Shuklaphanta National Park in Nepal lies quite close to the forest belt adjoining the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, and Dhakiya Talluke Maharajpur is situated on the fringe of the area. They suspect that after the attack, the elephant made its way back to Nepal through the same forest route, as indicated by the trail of pugmarks. The animal damaged the crops and broke a few empty huts in the vicinity.
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Since Ujhainia and Dhakiya Talluke Maharajpur villages are located 40 kilometres apart, different elephants are likely to have been involved in the two incidents.
The officials said it was earlier believed that elephants from Shuklaphanta National Park were entering the adjoining forest areas and the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve mainly because of the presence of two elephants in the region. To address the issue, the Forest Department had relocated those two elephants to a different area to prevent further cross-border movement.
