Lone elephant strayed from Chhagarh and entered Bhamragarh 12 km inside

NAGPUR: A herd of around 23 elephants has already settled in Navegaon National Park in the Gondia district, while a lone elephant entered Bhamragad in the Gadchiroli district on Thursday night.

“The tusker has strayed from neighboring Chhattisgarh and has entered about 12 km inside Bhamragad. He was also seen raiding an agricultural produce godown in Jaravandi by local villagers. This is the first time that an elephant has come to this area,” Kasanpur RFO Bhushan Khandate said.

For almost two consecutive years (2021-22), the same herd of elephants is also entering Gadchiroli from Manpur in Chhattisgarh. This year he returned on the date of April 10, 2023. But reportedly the date of April 14 was pushed back. This herd has just entered Navegaon National Park.

Sagnik Sengupta of NGO Stripes and Green Earth Foundation (SAGE) is also joining hands with the state forest department. “The tusker is also a new entrant but may be from the same group that has settled in Navegaon National Park. We need to know its identity from the Chhattisgarh authorities. It may wander off and come back.”

Since the home range of these elephants fragmented

Dr. S. Swaminathan, elephant expert and biologist with Wildlife SOS, also said, “The tuskers belong to the same groups that were driven out of Odisha in 2014. One group settled in the Baranwapara sanctuary while one herd is in Maharashtra. The other two herds are shuffling between the river basins of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.”

Dr. Swaminathan said, “Since the home range of these elephants has been fragmented due to large-scale mining in Orissa and Chhattisgarh, they are also in search of new ranges. The lone elephant entering Bhamragad may also be an attempt to establish a home range. It’s also entirely possible that the herd will follow suit. They also basically go in search of food, shelter and water.”

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