By IANS
Ranchi : The problem: pachyderms wandering into Jharkhand villages attracted by the scent of an intoxicating brew and then going on the rampage. The solution? Tiger urine!
The forest department is now urging villagers to store tiger urine in the hope that it will keep marauding elephants away.
“Elephants usually do not venture into areas where tigers reside. The pungent smell of the urine will deter the jumbos from entering the villages,” said Paritosh Upadhyay, district forest officer.
Finding their habitat encroached upon by humans and sometimes attracted by the smell of the intoxicating mahua drink, elephants foray into villages and damage standing crops, houses and trample people to death on a regular basis.
Forest officials have asked villagers not to store mahua.
At least 17 people have died of elephant attacks in the Silli block of Ranchi district this year.
Fear-stricken villagers even went to the Birsa Munda Zoological Park, Ranchi, to collect tiger urine.
“We requested the zoo authorities to give tiger urine but they refused,” said Manki Mahto, a resident of Silli block where an elephant christened Laden has wreaked havoc.
The fear of Laden has led to a curfew-like situation in the villages. Most people do not venture out of their homes after noon for fear of being attacked by it.
Forest department sources said 400 people were killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last six years while 82 jumbos too have died.
In Jharkhand, the elephant population has declined to 622 from 772 in the current census conducted in May this year. In confrontation with human beings, nearly 10 elephants have died in the state. Poaching is the other reason for their declining population.