KOLKATA: Peasants of Alipurduar are facing a bizarre problem — rhinos are frequently raiding their corn fields. The one-horned animals have no interest in the grain, but they rub their skin against the rough edges of the leaves to get some relief from itching, leaving the plants damaged.
The trouble started a fortnight ago at Chilapata, a pocket in the Alipurduar district where agriculture is is the main source of income. Seeing damaged corn plants in the mornings, farmers decided to keep overnight surveillance.
‘While keeping a watch, we found rhinos entering fields. Initially, we thought the animals would eat the corn. But we were surprised when noticed they smashed the plants by rubbing their skin and walked out of the area without eating the product,’’ said Abu Alam, one of the affected farmers.
Alam said the farmers tried to drive away by shouting and pelting stones. ‘’But it did not prove effective. Fearing attack, we did not dare to go close to them and the rhinos were least troubled by our strategy to driving them out,’’ he said.
Taher Ali, another farmer, said he spent his life chasing away elephants from the fields. ‘’But we never experienced such incident caused by rhinos. It is a question of our bread and butter. I request the forest department to find out an immediate solution so that we can save our product which is still left unaffected,’’ he said.
Rajendra Jakhar, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife), north, said chasing away rhinos by pelting stones can be very dangerous. “After being hit by stones, if the animals start attacking the farmers, it can be deadly. We tried to make the farmers understand about the consequences, but our efforts proved futile,’’ he explained. Forest department officials said elephants and rhinos rub their skin against the trunks of large trees to get relief. So, rhinos are following the same practice in corn fields,’’ said an official.