Farmers living in villages abutting the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary have turned reluctant hosts for a nine-member elephant herd after one of the elephants gave birth to a calf in the region in the early hours of Monday.
The herd is expected to stay put in the area for a fortnight until the calf is ready to walk on its own, said forest officials, warning the villagers to shun any attempts at driving the herd back into the forests.
Farmers of Kummaramadugu and surrounding hamlets of V. Kota mandal said the herd was moving around in the region bordering Karnataka for the past week, and had entered their paddy and ragi fields on Sunday midnight and had laid waste to a large extent of crops. The elephants however were not retreating into the forests even after daybreak, which is atypical of their behaviour, the villagers said.
A group of farmers, who waited till morning, then ventured to the area to see a newly-born calf tottering near its mother. A group of elephant trackers then reached the spot, and tried in vain to drive the mother-calf duo back into the forest. The presence of other elephants in the herd forced the forest staff to beat a retreat. Efforts to scare the pachyderms away into the forests by lighting firecrackers also proved to be futile.
Senior forest officials of the Palamaner range rushed to the fields and inspected the area where the elephant gave birth. The elephant trackers informed the officials that other members had started regrouping and moving closer to the mother-calf duo. A senior officer said that as a norm, the herd stays together assisting the mother and her newborn calf for a couple of weeks until the calf is ready to walk fully on its own. Officials cautioned farmers not to venture out alone after dark and to contact the elephant trackers in case of an emergency.
Meanwhile, the farmers expressed their happiness at the birth of a calf in their fields. “Vinayaka Chavithi will come in August, and several village temples are getting a facelift. Though we face crop damage, we feel that the birth of an elephant calf in our fields augurs well for us,” said a farmer.
