A herd of elephants from a national park in Nepal, which reached the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, has damaged crops of farmers, forest officials said on Sunday.
Chief Forest Conservator of Bareilly Lalit Verma said the herd of around 25 elephants from Nepal’s Shuklaphanta National Park reached the tiger reserve in Uttar Pradesh almost a month back.
The elephants damaged crops, following which the farmers are forced to keep a watch on their crops in the night.
He added that the forest staff is making every effort to drive away the elephants.
“The herd goes towards Nepal, but returns to the Tarai area in the night. On Saturday, these elephants destroyed the watch tower of the forest department. The elephants damaged paddy and sugarcane in the fields of Piparia Santosh village. The villagers played drums and blew trumpets to drive away the jumbos, but to no avail,” Verma said.
The second herd of the elephants reached near Hardoi canal on Saturday night.
Deputy director of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve Naveen Khandelwal said the staff of the tiger reserve is keeping a round-the-clock watch on the elephants, which have been staying here for the past one month.