Injured Elephant near IDPL Rishikesh looking for help
News of injury to one-tusked wild elephant in Rishikesh
In Rishikesh, there is news of injury to a tusk wild elephant which has been making its presence felt in the surrounding area continuously for the last several years.
Environmentalist Vinod Juglan, a wildlife lover and president of the Biodiversity Committee Khadri Kharak Maaf, said that for the past several years, some local people gave him unconfirmed information about a tusked wild elephant dragging its feet in the area. Local people say that they saw a tusk elephant very closely dragging its feet towards the river. Later, three footprints were seen in the footprints while the footprints of the front right foot were also found.
After receiving the information, he asked Forest Range Officer Devendra Singh Pundir on Saturday to confirm the elephant’s injury and inform Wildlife for the treatment of the wild elephant.
Next morning, information was received about the arrival of a tusk wild elephant near the GM residence of IDPL Veerbhadra. As soon as the information was received, Forest Range Officer Rishikesh Devendra Singh Pundir formed a team for security and deployed forest security personnel on the spot. Where the security wire fence was found broken by a wild elephant near the roundabout. Soon the location of the elephant was traced by the forest security personnel. The injured elephant was found resting in the nearby forest. The elephant, which was taking rest due to the smell of movement of security personnel, made a mock charge in an intimidating manner and alerted the forest personnel not to come near.
Wildlife photographer Akhil Bhandari captured the injured elephant on his camera from a distance.
Environment Lover Vinod Juglan said that the elephant has not only become old but also looking sick and unwell, this elephant has been seen continuously in the surrounding area for some years. It has no left tooth and is dragging its right front leg due to injury, while its tail is also short. Despite continuous influx in rural areas for years, there has been no report of any casualty due to it till now. Due to old age, this single tusk elephant keeps roaming in populated areas in search of food. Last year, the picture of this elephant was captured in CCTV camera while searching for food in the garbage in Bhaniya Wala.
He Said that the common man should not throw away the leftover food from his kitchen or events by filling it in polythene. This has an adverse effect on the lives of domesticated and wild animals.
He said that the wildlife protector should take cognizance of the wild elephant being sick and make arrangements for the treatment of the said elephant. So that this huge extinct creature can be saved.
On the spot, the team of forest security personnel led by Forest Range Officer DS Pundir included Deputy Ranger Chandra Shekhar Bhatt, Deputy Ranger Raj Pal Negi, Section Officer Forest Inspector Swayambar Dutt Kandwal, Forest Inspector Sunil Bhadola, Forest Beat Officer Ishwar Singh Gusain, Parveen Singh Negi, Dharam Singh Rana, Mahendra Singh, forest constable Subhash Bahuguna, driver Jitendra Singh Rawat, beat assistant Devendra Singh, Om Prakash Joshi and former soldiers Vinod Semwal, Anil Rawat and a large number of PRD soldiers are deployed.
