Habitat shrinking, elephants move out

ROURKELA: With the natural habitat of elephants shrinking in Sundargarh district, the mammals are moving out to human-populated areas in search of food.  Elephants from the forests of neighbouring Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh strayed into the villages bordering the forests causing largescale damage to habitations and  crops.  Two herds have been sighted  near Kacharu village under Kuanrmunda forest range and Dumerta village of Bisra forest range.The vast stretch of the eastern and northern borders of the district is covered by forests in Jharkhand, while the western-end shares border with Chhattisgarh and the south with Keonjhar district in Orissa.The vast Saranda forest in Jharkhand is one of the largest elephant corridors, but movement of the animals has been disturbed due to quarrying besides several other factors.Sundargarh DFO BN Thakur said elephants are ‘long ranging animals’ and can travel 50 km in one night.Wildlife experts reasoned  fragmentation of natural habitat as the primary reason for the animals straying into villages.A plan has been mooted to fence village borders with bamboo plantation and construction of trenches to protect the sector areas.