Elephant damages portion of house; leopard rescued in separate incidents in Nagrakata

Jalpaiguri: Nagrakata witnessed two significant wildlife incidents over the weekend, highlighting ongoing human-animal conflict in the region.

Late Sunday night, a wild elephant damaged a house near Nagrakata Police Station. The incident occurred around 11 pm when the elephant, reportedly from the Jaldhaka forest, entered nearby agricultural fields to graze on paddy. Local residents attempted to drive it away by bursting firecrackers, forcing the elephant towards a forested area near Sonam Bhutia’s house.

According to Bhutia, the elephant approached her home, prompting her to seek shelter indoors. The animal broke a portion of her house but retreated after she created noise by striking a tin sheet. Bhutia remarked: “It’s a relief to receive government support during such times.”

In another incident on Monday morning, a group of elephants entered the Bamandanga Tea Garden in Nagrakata block, destroying a ration godown. Meanwhile, foresters from the Khunia Range rescued a leopard from Hope Tea Garden in the same block on Monday. Locals reported frequent leopard attacks on livestock in the area. The Forest department, which had earlier set up a cage with a goat as bait in Section 13 of the garden, relocated the trap to Section 20 on Saturday. Workers found the leopard in the cage when they resumed work on Monday morning. Forest personnel promptly rescued the subadult leopard and later released it into Gorumara forest around 11 am. Gautam Bhattacharya, the zonal welfare manager of the plantation, said: “The leopard killed several goats, cows and other animals over the past week. While one has been captured, at least three or four leopards are still in the garden.” Khunia Range Ranger Sajal Kumar Dey confirmed the rescue, adding: “The captured leopard is a sub-adult.”