Elephants create panic in many Aurangabad villages in Bihar

AURANGABAD: Panic has spread among residents of several villages of Aurangabad district after a herd of wild elephants was spotted near Amar Bigha village on Wednesday and nearby villages, bordering Jharkhand, during the last three days.
District forest officer Tejas Jaiswal said, "A herd of elephants has come out from the forests of Jharkhand to the plains. This herd has been roaming in the border areas of Aurangabad district for the last 3 days. There are 12 wild elephants in this herd. The forest department teams are constantly monitoring their movement. So far, the jumbos have not caused any significant damage and it is expected that they will cross the Aurangabad border, and go back to their forested area in the next one or two days."
He said elephants were not seen in this area in the last few years, but possibly due to less rains, the elephants had come out in the plains. "However, there is no need to panic as the forest department is ready to deal with every situation," he said.
Meanwhile, district board member Kiran Singh said that the last time a committee was formed under the joint aegis of the forest department and the district administration in view of the damage created by the herd of elephants in the district. "The committee's task was to prevent conflicts between animals and humans. But the meeting of this committee has not been held for a long time," she said, adding some effective measures should be taken again.