Maharashtra: After decades, elephants spotted in Gadchiroli

A grab from a video of the elephants in Gadchiroli

The sighting of a herd of elephants recently in the forest of Gadchiroli is being celebrated in wildlife circles in Maharashtra. It is said that the sighting has taken place after decades in the area.

Gadchiroli district has the highest density of forest cover in the state of Maharashtra but there were no elephants there. According to Forest Department officials, the herd of elephants spotted in Gadchiroli has migrated from a forest in the state of Chhattisgarh.

Around 16-20 elephants were spotted in the forest at Dhanora taluka from Murumgaon to the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border. Conservator of Forests (CF), Gadchiroli, Kishor Mankar said, "Around 4 to 5 days back, we got information about a herd of elephants spotted in the forest patch adjacent to Kannargaon in Dhanora tehsil of Gadchiroli district. A herd of 16 elephants including two-three calves is roaming in the forest patch and they have come from the forest of Rajnandgaon District, in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh."

Sources from the forest department said a dedicated team is already keeping close tabs on the movement of the elephants and awareness is being created in the villages close to the forest where they are moving.

There are also talks in wildlife circles that this might be forced migration, as the forest patch in Chhattisgarh is getting fragmented due to mining. There have also been several instances of human-elephant conflicts in Chhattisgarh.

Elephant conservationist Arjun Kandar said, "Asian elephants are one of the few large mammals that are seeing an expansion of their range in the 21st century - recolonisation of parts of their historical habitat. It is imperative to help local communities that have not lived alongside elephants in their lifetimes navigate this novel scenario."