A herd of 52 Dalma range elephants from Jharkhand entered the Bankura forests Monday late night through the West Midnapore jungle corridor.

Last year, on 28 September, a herd of 42 elephants had invaded the Bankura forests from the Dalma range that was vacated in mid June this year. Last night, the herd intruded into the Adhkata village of Joypur range under the Panchet Soil Conservation division of forests in Bankura through the Rupnarayan Forest Division of West Midnapore.

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“The herd has eight calves,” said Virendra Kumar Sharma, ADFO, Panchet Division, adding, “We’ve already begun sending alert texts to the cell numbers of the residents, besides extensive miking for public awareness.”