12 June, 2011 - Crop damage by wild elephants have become more rampant in several villages in Sibsoo ever since a 14 year-old boy in Hangay village died after being attacked by one. Since last month, about 15 to two acres of maize fields were damaged with the tuskers appearing in the maize fields as early as four in the afternoon in Belbotay A village, according to the village tshogpa. “It’ll be difficult for farmers to be left with even five percent of what they’ve cultivated,” said the tshogpa, Dhana Patigiri. “Damage has been more rampant this year.” Dhana Patigiri said every night a group of 25 people from the village patrol the maize fields and try to chase away elephants but to no avail. “Once the elephants enter the fields, it’s very difficult for us to chase them away,” he said. “They stay for a minimum of about five hours and sometimes until early morning. We can’t get close to them out of fear, they might start to charge us.” Having lost about 70 decimal to three acres of yield to the tuskers most villagers in Belbotay B are contemplating on whether they should stop maize cultivation should the situation get worse next year. “Elephants refuse to leave until they are satisfied,” Belbotay B’s tshogpa, Nirmal Chettri said. “If they are chased from one area, they go to the next field.” Peljorling A also suffered extensive damage with almost 100 percent of the crops affected in about 30 decimal to two acres of land, according to tshogpa, Padam Bahadhur Biswa. “In our village, the solar powered fencings were destroyed apart from the crop,” he said. “Every time we fix them it’s back to square one once the elephants start entering again.” When maize fields are completely damaged, villagers said the wild elephants then start attacking their houses, the areca nut and coconut trees. So far, two kitchens and a rice mill suffered minor damages, the tshogpa said. “The wild elephants enter in groups, spread all over the village and gobble whatever they get including grass,” a villager said. “They just won’t leave until they have destroyed everything.” Hangay, Peljorling A, B, Belbotey A, B, Halaicha, Jogimara and Geirigaon villages in Sibsoo have become the habitat of wild elephants that enter from the forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries on the Indian side. Sibsoo gup, Ranjit Gurung said damage to crops and attacks on humans have became more rampant since early 2000. And around five people have died from elephant attacks so far with many injured in the past decade. In 2006, solar powered fencing, which gives off an electric current, was set up in the affected villages and torchlights were also supplied. Last year, another solar powered fencing worth about Nu 3M was set up as well. “But the elephants have learnt that they don’t get electrocuted when they use their tusks so they fell the solar fencing using their tusks,” said a villager. Sibsoo, being susceptible to wild elephant rampages every year, the villagers lose a substantial amount of crop to wild elephants, owing to which most farmers switch to livestock. By Kinga Dema