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BHUBANESWAR: A buffalo calf was killed and five others were injured in an elephant attack near Chandaka Wildlife Division during wee hours of Sunday. What is puzzling is the way the jumbo appeared to have attacked the buffaloes. The hip of one the buffaloes was displaced while the calf was trampled to death.
One of the local villagers said, he saw a lone elephant roaming near Pathagadia village near Chandaka forests. When the jumbo came near the buffalo shelter, the villager fled the place in fear. Later, it was found out that the jumbo had killed the calf and injured five more animals. Wildlife experts said, the jumbo may have tried to mate with the buffaloes which, though appear weird, is not uncommon.
It happens when the elephant is in “musth” and several such cross-species mating has been reported in the wild. “Besides, the injury marks and hip displacement also indicate the mating attempts by the jumbo,” forest officials said.
Chandaka forest, which once boasted of a huge elephant population, is now left with only a handful of these long rangers. In absence of females, such mating patterns are not really weird, said an expert.