Pilibhit (UP), Mar 11 (PTI) Two elephants in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve have been causing extensive damage to wheat crop in the surrounding villages for the last two months, posing a challenge to authorities and locals, an officer said.

The forest department has so far been unable to drive them away, he said.

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Mala Range officer Robin Singh said the forest teams rush to the affected areas on receiving reports of crop damage and chase the elephants back into the jungle. However, controlling them has become a major challenge for the department.

Villagers said the elephants enter the farmlands at night, damaging standing wheat crop in areas, including Sirsa Sardaha village. Farmers are forced to stay awake and make noise to scare them away, they said.

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The elephants have also broken the protective fencing of the tiger reserve, worsening the situation, locals said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)