DEHRADUN: A herd of elephants from Uttarakhand was seen moving up to Nahan forest area of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh. The elephants were seen travelling up to 12km from Uttarakhand-Himachal border. The Rajaji Park administration has described this long-distance movement of elephants as a good sign from the point of view of wildlife and wildlife conservation.
)Saket Badola, Director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, told this newspaper: “In September last year, a herd of elephants left Rajaji and reached Sirmaur district. Then the forest department there gave official information about it. On September 27, 2022, a team from here reached Himachal and gave training related to elephants to the forest personnel there.”
This time there have been reports of elephants from the park reaching there through various means, Badola added. He also described the long-distance movement of elephants as a good sign. DFO, Paonta Sahib, Aishwarya Raj has confirmed this movement.
Badola, who has done extensive studies and long experience in the field of wildlife, said: “When the water level of Yamuna river in Paonta Sahib bordering Uttarakhand decreases, elephants cross the river and reach the Himachal border. During this time, the sugarcane crop pulls them there. Elephants have been moving in Batamandi, Baharal, Kaunch Valley and Satiwala areas adjacent to the Yamuna river in the past.”
Long-distance movement of elephants has been between the Yamuna and the Sharda rivers at one time, he said. “With this move, it is certain that the corridors for the wildlife present in the state are alive, hope is intact and there is no threat to wildlife,” he said.
Badola also said, “On February 19, a six-year-old tiger left the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and reached Simbalbara National Park in Himachal Pradesh. This is the first incident of a tiger crossing a distance of 120 km and reaching another area in the last two decades.”
Good sign, says expert
The long-distance movement of elephants from Uttarakhand to Nahan forest area of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh is seen as a good sign from the point of view of wildlife conservation. “It is certain that the corridors for the wildlife present in the state are still alive, hope is intact and there is no threat to wildlife,” Saket Badola, Director of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, said.