Grass is greener on the other side! Forest officials having a tough time as eight wild elephants stray into Andhra-Odisha border

The trained elephants made the 1,000 kms journey from Chittoor to Patapatnam on the back of trucks.

“But it is a tough task. As soon as the herd sees the two elephants with mahouts they bolt and not particularly in the direction we want them to. It takes several hours of gentle stalking to move them towards the side we want to,” said Swami Shekar, RFO of Patapatnam range in Srikakulam disrict.

“Forest guards are tracking their movements continuously. The elephants haven’t harmed anyone nor have they destroyed any crops although at one or two places the herd fed on a standing maize crop. The herd is moving along the reserve forest corridor but is giving anxious moments to people who come across them whenever they are near human habitats or crossing the roads. We are trying to divert them back to Odisha without unnecessarily stressing the animals. Sometimes they go one or two kms in a day towards the direction we want them to and then return the next. Progress has been very slow. The herd is now about 50 kms away from the border,” said Swami Shekar, RFO of Patapatnam range in Srikakulam disrict.

Forest officials said that the elephants appeared to have become fond of the new habitat as it has plenty of fodder and several water holes and are showing no inclination to return to the home habitat.

The elephants have come almost 70 kms into AP from the Tumbakota Reserve Forest near the Odisha border and walked across the river bed of Mahendra Tanaya river which forms the border. The officials are having a hard time to drive them back to their natural habitat in Odisha. Forest officials said the elephants appeared to have become fond of the new habitat as it has plenty of fodder and several water holes and are showing no inclination to return to the home habitat.

“That side of the border there is not much human habitation so both animals and humans are safe. This side there are a number of villages and if the elephants start damaging the crops there will be man-animal conflict which we want to avoid. So we are trying to drive them back to Odisha,” an official said. The two trained elephants and their mahouts, along wioth five forest beat guards are tracking the elephants round the clock to ensure that they do not stray into villages or agriculture fields.