A solitary wild elephant that came out of Apalchand forest in north Bengal on Saturday morning, chased an earthmover machine and damaged a watchtower in Damdim after being harassed and chased by locals and the driver of the earthmover. The tusker suffered injuries on its head and trunk. It was later driven back to the forest. No person was injured in the incident.
According to Koustav Choudhury, executive director at SNAP Foundation, the jumbo had a territorial fight inside Apalchand forest. "As it came out of the forest , it encountered the earthmover machine near one of the tea estates in the area. The machine driver, instead of staying calm, kept the machine on with the excavator bucket high in a vertical position. The jumbo probably took it as a challenge and hit the machine with its head. Though it soon turned back and moved towards the other way, the machine and the locals present there kept chasing it," Choudhury said. The jumbo was in ‘musth' — when a male elephant experiences a hormonal cycle that causes behavioural and physiological changes.
Later, the elephant headed towards a watchtower and damaged it with its head and trunk. . "But some kept harassing the tusker. Forest department personnel and the sub-divisional officer were present at the spot. They later managed to drive it back to the forest," Choudhury said, adding that 6,000-7,000 people were present in the area.
Gorumara DFO Dwijpratim Sen said that since morning, foresters had been struggling to drive the elephant back to the forest. In the evening, firecrackers were burst to drive it back to Apalchand forest. The elephant was monitored inside the forest throughout on Sunday.
"We, along with Gorumara Wildlife Division, will be filing an FIR against the earthmover driver and will also hold a high-level meeting on Monday with the local panchayat, tea estates, joint forest management committees, eco-development committees and the local administration. The local administration should explain the reason for failure of crowd management," added Choudhury.