Herd of elephants moves to Bangladesh from India’s Patharia Hills
Originally consisting of seven elephants the remaining five face an uncertain future due to man-animal conflict and the gradual decrease of their habitat
A herd of five elephants has moved to Bangladesh from India's Patharia Hill ranges in the Karimganj district in search of food and fodder.
The all-female herd of elephants has found refuge in the Champabari forests of Bangladesh's Juri upazila of Moulvibazar, near the Indian border, where they passed through the well-known elephant corridor of Patharia-Champabari.
Originally consisting of seven elephants the remaining five face an uncertain future due to man-animal conflict and the gradual decrease of their habitat, reports The Sentinel.
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The other two elephants of the herd died, one from electrocution and the other from a lack of food and weariness, including the herd's only male elephant.
In addition to that, the pachyderm family's expansion has been almost ruled out due to the lack of a male mate. The herd spent few days in tea gardens near the Bangladesh border before retreating.
A plausible cause behind it is that Aus variety paddy crops on agricultural fields down the hills have not yet been cultivated due to drought-like situations and the reserve forests for namesake are denuded of its greenery.
The lack of food has again pushed the herd which left on Monday back to Bangladesh.
Once the Aus cops are sown and become ripe by winter, the farmers say they might come back.
Significant to note, the pachyderms, as observed after their return to this side of the border, generally move around the tea gardens of Pathnee, Sonakhira, Lalkhira, Sipanjuri, Kukital, Chandkhira, Hatikhira, Bisnumber and Durganagar and wait for the crops to mature.
They often turn into marauders, creating panic among people. They also come down on National Highway 6 connecting the valley with Meghalaya and Tripura.
According to naturalists, these restless female elephants need the companion of a male partner which can be bought from any forests of Brahmaputra Valley. Besides, their only habitat in Barak Valley, Patharia Hills, has to be protected and forests created to make them safe.
