“There were no elephants in these forests for over 100 years,” says Anshuman Shah, Head naturalist at Samode Safari Lodge in Bandhavgarh Tiger Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The first herd — around 15 to 20— was spotted in the tiger landscape, in 2018. “Initially it looked like a part of elephant movement along the tiger corridor, but the herd is back and is living here now,” says Shah.
Head of the Elephant Corridor Project at WTI (Wildlife Trust of India), Upasana Ganguly says, “Though herds move through elephant corridors, they have started exploring new routes like this Chhattisgarh-to-Bandhavgarh one. We have started an initiative, Haathi Mitra Dal, with Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and the local community to train members, local responders and frontline forest workers to give safe passage to the new entrants to this area as well as ensure the community’s safety.”
In April 2022, a wild elephant strayed into Rusa Mal village in Dindori, a part of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and destroyed some of the huts. The area, inhabited by the Baiga tribes, has jackfruit trees. The river Son flows through and the tribals make Mahua (local liquor), all these attract the elephant,” says Pushpendra Dwivedi, a journalist-turned-wildlife field expert who uses “chilli balls and rassi (rope) bombs” to steer the pachyderm out.
