Fear of drop in tourist footfall - Glare on Jaldapara jumbo attacks

A pet elephant carries fodder on its back in Jaldapara National Park. File picture 

Anirban Choudhury, TT, Alipurduar: Tourism stakeholders apprehend that visitors will shun the Jaldapara National park because of frequent attacks by elephants engaged for safaris on their keepers.

Tourists visit the Jaldapara forest mainly for elephant safaris and to see one-horn rhinos. On Saturday, Omprakash Nayak, a patawala (person who collects fodder and feeds elephants), was injured when a female pet jumbo attacked him.

"In the past also, elephants had killed mahouts or patawalas in Jaldapara. After Saturday's incident, tourists will think twice before availing themselves of elephant rides in Jaldapara. Pet elephants are engaged to carry tourists and roam inside the park. Employees appointed on contract are given charge of the elephants," said Biplab Dey, the assistant secretary of the Dooars Tourism Development Forum.

"As anything bad can happen to tourists anytime, forest officers should immediately deploy experienced and permanent mahouts to manage elephant safaris. Otherwise, we apprehend, tourists will stop visiting Jaldapara."

Dey said a large number of tourists were expected to flock to the Dooars after December 15 when exams would be over.

Shibji Shau, a lodge owner in Chilapata, said permanent keepers were essential to improve the bond with the elephants.

"In Jaldapara, new contractual staff take elephants for rides and mahouts and patawalaschange frequently. One mahout and one patawala should be permanently engaged for each pet elephant. If the elephants spend time with the same persons for long, there would be a bonhomie between the two," Shau said.

According to forest department sources, Jaldapara has 66 pet elephants now. More than 40 are adults, while the rest are young.