Today’s articles are from two papers. The first is from that great bastion of journalism, “The Daily Mail” & the second article is from the “Times of India”:
Trunk and disorderly! Herd of 50 drunken elephants ransack village after gulping down 500 LITRES of alcohol in shop
- Animals destroyed three houses in Dumurkota, India
- Drawn out of forest by strong smell of Mahua liquor
- Ransacked adjoining huts after finishing shop supply
By Mark Duell
PUBLISHED: 17:11 GMT, 7 November 2012 | UPDATED: 08:08 GMT, 8 November 2012
Fifty drunken elephants caused havoc in an Indian village and destroyed three houses after gulping down an astonishing 500 litres of alcohol.
The animals destroyed a shop stocking Mahua and ruined crops in Dumurkota, east India, after drinking 18 containers of the alcoholic drink.
However they were not satisfied after the drinking session and ransacked adjoining huts to find more of the liquor, according to local reports.
The herd had been drawn out of a forest by the strong smell of Mahua and raided the shop stocking the drink, reported the Times of India.
But Dumurkota villagers managed to drive away the elephants after the incident and forestry officials then tried to get them to cross a nearby river.
‘Unfortunately these animals live in close proximity to man and they recognised the smell of the drink,’ police spokesman Asish Samanat said.
He added that the elephants were similar to a drunk human in that they were ‘aggressive and unreasonable’, but they were ‘much, much bigger’.
The elephants were said to be part of a herd of 120 that had arrived from another town on Friday night, before the havoc ensued on Sunday.
'They'll have one heck of a hangover'
Inspector Asish Samanat
Police asked for help from villagers in escorting them back to the other town. ‘They'll have one heck of a hangover,’ Inspector Samanat said of the elephants.
Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants and easier to tame, although they can still charge at speeds of up to 30mph.
But there are only around 50,000 adult Asian elephants left in the wild - even though they have no natural predators.
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Tipsy jumbos on the rampage
TNN Nov 5, 2012, 07.33AM IST
WEST MIDNAPORE: When human beings get tipsy, they either speak gibberish or land up in a brawl. But when elephants get high on liquor, they end up wreaking havoc.
Such was the sight at Dumurkota village where a herd of 50-odd inebriated jumbos ransacked three houses and damaged paddy crops on Sunday. The strong smell of Mahua drink drew the elephants out of the forest and they raided the shop selling the drink. The herd wasn't happy even after guzzling down 18 containers of Mahua and ransacked the adjoining huts in search of more.
But the villagers had gathered by then and they managed to drive away the jumbos.
"We are trying to push the herd back and get it to cross the Kangsabati river," said Midnapore DFO Asish Samanat. TNN
High on country liquor, an elephant herd created havoc in Dumurkota village under Kotwali police station in the wee hours of Sunday. The strong smell of the Mahua drink drew about 50 elephants from the nearby jungle. They first raided a shop that sells the drink. After finishing the stock of about 18 containers of the liquor, they wanted more.
The herd then raided three houses near the shop hoping to find more drink. By this time villagers had gathered and they managed to drive away the elephants to the jungle. Till late evening forest officials were trying to get the elephants cross the Kangsabati river.
"The herd also destroyed paddy fields. We are trying to push them back and get them cross the Knagsbati river," said Asish Samanat, divisional forest officer (DFO) (Midnapore)
According to forest officials, the 50 elephants were part of a 120 strong herd that has come from Damla on Friday night.
"We are asking the villagers to co-operate with us in sending the elephants back to Dalma," said assistant DFO (Rupnarayan) Bikash Chakraborty.
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