Bhubaneswar: On a moist Thursday night time in a small Keonjhar village, concern may simply have taken over. As a substitute, compassion did.
When a herd of elephants wandered into Purushottampur village beneath the Telkoi forest vary searching for meals, residents of 1 home selected to not chase them away. Kuntala Penthei and her household quietly stepped exterior and positioned two sacks of paddy of their backyard, providing the animals what that they had come on the lookout for.
The elephants ate, lingered briefly, and slipped again into the darkness of the adjoining forest — forsaking an uncommon story of belief in a area extra accustomed to headlines about human-wildlife battle.
Penthei recollects that the herd first introduced its arrival with noise.
“They had been trying to find meals and knocked down some plywood sheets saved close to the home,” she mentioned. “My son noticed them and referred to as us. We understood they had been hungry. So we gave them paddy. After consuming, they left.”
Minutes later, the herd returned — this time accompanied by a big tusker.
“We fed all of them once more. They didn’t hurt anybody,” she added.
For villagers dwelling alongside forest fringes in northern Odisha, elephant encounters usually are not uncommon. What made this second stand out, locals say, was the calm response. No shouting, no firecrackers, no try to drive the animals away — simply meals positioned at a distance and persistence.
Forest officers described the episode as a reminder that coexistence, although fragile, remains to be potential.
Dhanraj Hanumant Dhamdhere, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Keonjhar, mentioned elephants sometimes flip aggressive solely when threatened.
“Elephants don’t include the intention of harming individuals or destroying houses. When they’re chased or irritated, they change into pressured and will injury property. There are various villagers like Kuntala Penthei who perceive this and consider in coexistence,” he mentioned.
Lately, shrinking forest corridors and crop availability have elevated contact between elephants and human settlements throughout Odisha. Such encounters typically finish in panic, generally violence, and sometimes tragedy.
