According to reports, one Rudal, a 35-years-old man had ventured into the forest to collect wood and on way back to his village Bhardahpur, the innocent villagers was confronted with a herd of elephants on the banks of river Gerua. “Before the villager could react and run for safety, he was surrounded by the elephants and trampled to death,” said a villager.
The villager further said that on hearing the cries of the poor villager, others present in vicinity, rushed towards the elephant herd and raised alarm from a distance, forcing the elephants to beat a retreat into the thick forests of the area.
In the meantime, the local forest officials were informed, who without wasting time, rushed to the spot but by the time they reached, the villager had died. His body was sent for post-mortem.
A senior forest official said that elephant herd migrating from adjoining forests of Nepal was a common phenomenon. He said that the migration takes place because the forests in Nepal are being fast degraded owing to large-scale illegal felling of trees.
Since adequate fodder for these big pachyderms is not there, the elephants migrate to India, said the official.
He further said that coupled with forest degradation, the forest in Nepal face extreme biotic pressure as well and thus is not any further viable to sustain both herbivore or carnivore population of wild species.
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