A pack of wild elephants from the Charkoshe forest has been wreaking destruction at Panbari area in Dharan Sub-metropolis-6 of Sunsari district. 

The elephants have damaged three houses and destroyed several hectares of farmland in past four days. The menace has not stopped despite a patrol team of locals and police personnel guarding the settlement.

Locals said there was little they could do to keep the marauding pack of rogue tuskers at bay. The pack launched a strike at Ghopali on the wee hours of Thursday morning and damaged the house of Amrit BK.  “We were asleep when the elephants attacked at around 3am. We ran outside to save our lives,” BK said, adding that the elephants had earlier tore down a house not far away at Charpate Ahale. 

Repeated onslaughts of elephants have terrorised the Panibari locals. They are keeping their guards up, especially at night. “We have not slept well because of the elephants,” said Binod BK, another local. “We have built bonfires and tried several other methods to scare the elephants away. Nothing has worked so far.” 

The locals as well as police lack resources to stem the elephants from entering their settlements.

Hari Rai, ward representative of Dharan-6, suggested that one way of stopping the incursion of elephants in the area was construction of fences. “Incidents of elephants causing human and property losses are not new in the area. The people need a long-term solution to this problem,” he said, noting that elephants have killed at least 12 people in Panbari in past two decades.    

  Jackal terror in Bajhang: 27 injured

At least 27 people have been injured in separate jackal attack incidents at Jaya Prithvi Municipality in Bajhang district in past one week. 

The victims have reported that they were all attacked around the same location, suggesting that they were bitten by the same animal. Sushil Khati, of Jaya Prithvi Municipality-4, said the jackal has caused a terror among the people as the animal could be carrying rabies virus. Four of Khati’s friends were bitten by the jackal as they were returning home from Chainpur, the district headquarters, recently.

There have also been reports of domesticated animals in the area suffering from bite injuries.

Dr Bidur Bhandari at the Bajhang District Hospital said the hospital has already administered anti-rabies vaccines to 15 people injured in jackal attacks and some others who had come into contact with domestic animals that had been bitten.

The hospital has also dispatched anti-rabies vaccines to various health posts following an increase in jackal attack incidents.