Elephants are constant companions in our area. Depleting forest resources has made food availability scarce for an increasing elephant population which forces them to wander far away from their habitats in the jungle and invade nearby villages. The rice harvesting season (October-December) attracts herds of elephants to the rural paddy fields where the ripe paddy sends an attractive aroma for them to gorge upon.
Elephants are known to be able to smell paddy from a distance of over 1 km! They also find paddy as a tasty and nutritious alternative during this period and choose it over their traditional grasses and other plants.
Farmers in the area are always alert because of these elephant invasions that sometimes come in herds over 25 in number (including adults and babies) and can completely destroy their crop before the harvest.
The Forest department runs a squad vehicle around the area to drive away the elephants but this season sees so many different herds plundering separate fields of nearby villages that it becomes difficult to control them all at the same time. Hence some farmers fall victim to the pillage and have to resort to compensation from the government for the loss.
Sometimes, the elephants decide to go straight to the homes of the villagers and ransack the harvested paddy from their storage rooms. This causes much loss because of the extra damage caused to the houses. The increasing conflict between elephants and humans has become a huge problem in current times with loss of life becoming an integral part of these situations.
While elephants are often tamed and used for religious purposes in many parts of India, the wild ones can be quite dangerous if they feel threatened by the presence of humans in their space. Farmers around the world have been constantly innovating techniques to deal with the elephant invasion of their crops, but it remains unsolvable due to the immense strength and intelligence of this species. More on that in another post.