Frightened by Forest Fire 50 Elephants from Similipal Enter Village in Balasore Dist

Balasore: Frightened by the raging forest fires inside the Similipal Reserve Forest, around 50 wild elephants have strayed into the Naikudi village in Odisha’s Balasore district.

According to the locals, this wild elephant herd is in the area since past few days. The wild pachyderms have already destroyed paddy cultivation in over 50 acres of land.

The villagers are also panicked by the presence of the wild elephants. They are not feeling safe to come out of their houses during night.

Following complaints from the villagers, forest officials shooed away the wild elephants from the area near the village. But because of the wildfires, the elephant herd did not enter the Simlipal Sanctuary and have returned to the village again. Forest officials are trying hard to extinguish the fires inside the Similipal sanctuary. But they have not been successful.