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Case Study: Restraint and relocation of two tuskers from Howrah district to Purulia District on 12-13 February, 2019
A sub-adult Maljuria (friendly males) pair crossed the boundary of the Rupnarayan Forest Division of West Medinipore district on 10 th February, 2019 through Khirpai and Khanakul of Hooghly district and on 11.02.2019 and were found inside a bamboo thicket in the non-for- ested human habitation of Uttar Bhatora, a thickly populated island village of Amta block-II under Joypur PS of Howrah district.
Upon receipt of information all concerned administrative authori- ties were alerted and Divisional Forest officers of Paschim Medini- pore division, Sri R.N. Saha, Rupnarayan Division, Sri Arnab Sengupta, Kharagpur Division, Sri A. Mukherjee and Howrah Division, Sri S. Sark- ar arrived at the spot with their driving parties and teams for chem- ically immobilizing the elephants. Two other Immobilizing teams from Bankura (North) and Bardhaman Divisions were also called for support as directed by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Western Cir- cle, Sri S. S. Dey.
Driving parties were engaged and after several attempts, maljuria pair was successfully driven to Khanakul in Hooghly district crossing the Mundeswari river but then the pair turned towards Jhikira Gram Panchayat area, Amta-II Block of Howrah, approached Siaguri Bridge & Rampur Canal then suddenly disappeared in the darkness of night.
In the early morning on 12.02.2019 both the elephants were spotted in the crop fields of Koley Para, area of Manikpir Village under Jagatball- vpur PS and Jagatballvpur Block of Howrah district, about 20-25 Km f rom Kolkata. The Manikpir village was thickly populated; packed with closely built houses and huts and crisscrossed with canals, ponds and plantations with narrow passages inaccessible to four wheelers. Hun- dreds of people gathered to see the elephants and more thronged in with bicycles and two wheelers. The elephants were terrified of the crowd and moved into the village ruling out any possibility of driving them.
Sri Ravi Kant Sinha, PCCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden, West Bengal assigned the responsibility of immediate relocation of the el- ephants. Technical team comprising of Sri Subrat Pal Chowdhury and Sri Sujoy Sarkar, Dy.Ranger/Forester from the Wildlife Headquarter
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