ROURKELA: Railway and forest authorities are on a state of alert after a herd of elephants was found in the vicinity of the railway tracks of the D cabin area near Bondamunda railway station here on Monday. The herd was later guided towards Bisra range.
Rourkela divisional forest officer (DFO) Yeswant Sethi said the herd had arrived from the adjacent forest in Jharkhand and reached the D cabin area on the wee hours of Monday. “Forest staff were asked to keep a close vigil on the movement of the pachyderms and trains were instructed to pass with a regulated speed. The herd was later guided towards the Santoshpur Reserve Forest of Bisra range at around 4.30 pm on Monday,” Sethi added.
The DFO further said a total of 71 elephants are still roaming in small and large herds across different locations in Rourkela Forest Division and their movement is being monitored. Meanwhile, a pregnant tusker after separating from her herd a week back, gave birth to a calf on a farm field of Naditola village in Birmitrapur range. The mother-baby duo was later reunited with the herd.