Bareilly, July 10 )IANS) This time it is not criminals who are using the UP-Nepal open border to their advantage. It is the two wild elephants that have entered Uttar Pradesh from Nepal and are wreaking havoc in the Terai region. The elephants have killed five persons till now.
Nearly 150 experts have been called in from five states to reign in the wild elephants. Experts have been called in from Assam, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Rajasthan.
Officials of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) have sent 10 forest guards and inspectors to assist forest department teams in their operation to rescue the two wild elephants moving closer to Bareilly city.
According to PTR's officiating deputy director Adarsh Kumar, the forest guards and inspectors were sent to Bareilly following a requisition in view of the movement of the wild pachyderms in agricultural areas.
All senior forest officials from Lucknow are in Bareilly to supervise the operations and the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) has been deployed in nearly half a dozen villages.
None of the officials could be contacted on phone on Wednesday, but UP Forest Minister Dara Singh Chauhan said that the operation to safely send back the elephants to Nepal was on.
"Forest experts are on the job. If needed, we will tranquilize them," he stated.
Five female elephants from the Dudhwa National Park have also been put on the job. The female elephants have been brought in to herd in the wild elephants and drive them back to Nepal.
According to forest officials, the two wild elephants entered Uttar Pradesh in the last week of June and have been damaging crops, attacking people and creating panic.
The tuskers have already trampled four people while a forest official lost his life while trying to trap the elephants.
When the tuskers initially made an appearance, people started taking selfies with them which apparently angered the animals.
Forest officials said that this is the first time that wild elephants have strayed from the peaceful forests and have been angered by the city life.
Meanwhile, DIG Bareilly range, Rajesh Pandey, said that tranquillization seemed to be the only way to control the elephants and transport them back to Nepal.
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