A marauding herd of elephants is devouring standing ahu crops, the only means of livelihood for the flood-hit farmers of Majuli, giving the residents of the river island no other option than to witness the devastation in silence. Sources said that the elephants have been wreaking havoc in the saporis (sandbanks) in Phulonibari, Meragar, Salmara, Kathalkhua, Kathamia and Bonoria areas since the last couple of days.

The Forest Department will provide solar lights for electrification of six remote villages in the district. A meeting was held today between the Jorhat Deputy Commissioner and Forest officials to discuss the Centre-sponsored project. Preliminary details regarding the implementation of the project were discussed in the meeting. The use of solar lights may be effective in tackling the elephant menace in these interior villages. Though it has not been finalized yet, there are plans to include Hatisal and Dainigaon in Neamati area and a Majuli village under the project.

Landscape connectivity that allows for wildlife mobility requires governance across a tenurial mosaic of managerial units based on reconciliation of social, economic, and ecological objectives. The proposed Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), which includes Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, features a spectacular display of mega fauna and a number of tourist attractions such as the Victoria Falls.

Forest and police officials have gunned down a rampaging elephant which killed two persons and injured seven others, including police and forest officials, in Ransura, Budhahedi, Quasampur and Gharisanghipur villages near Hardwar. The animal had been rampaging through different villages since morning and was finally gunned down by AK-47 rifles in Ranipur Jhal and the administration had to work overtime to restore confidence among the panic-stricken villagers. "Tough decision'

The Ministry of Environment and Forest has released about Rs 3000 crore to the Northeastern States during the past four financial years under the "Project Elephant'. Official sources said here today altogether 17 States, including six NE States, received the fund under the project where elephants exist in the wild. Tripura's share was Rs 36 lakh.

» Authorities in Pakistan have confirmed one more polio case in Sindh province, bringing the total number of cases to eight in 2008. The country has reported 19 polio cases in the past six

Four persons were crushed to death and three others injured when an elephant ran amok in Hardwar on Thursday. The incident occurred at Khuddaheri village in the district when an elephant, which apparently came from nearby Rajaji Park, attacked villager working in fields, forest officials said. Four persons were killed on the spot and three others injured, the officials said, adding, the identities of the deceased were not immediately known.

The man-elephant conflict in the district seems to have no immediate solution in sight. Recurrent incidents of depredation caused by marauding herds of jumbos in forest and riverine areas have taken a toll on life and property.

Even as this article was being written late last evening, a group of six elephants entered a maize field in lower Hungay, Sipsu, as farmers helplessly watched from a safe distance. It was raining heavily. This week alone, marauding elephants from across the border destroyed more than 17 acres of maize plants, a few acres of ginger in the villages of Hungay and Peljorling in Sipsu.

The Central Zoo Authority wants to shed its responsibility of monitoring the upkeep of elephants in circuses, saying the task should be entrusted with the Animal Welfare Board in view of frequent instances of violation of norms by the owners. It has written to the environment ministry to keep the circuses out of its ambit, citing inability of circus owners to comply with the provisions of its Recognition of Zoo Rules 1992 in the upkeep of elephants.

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