Shahjahanpur: A herd of three wild elephants were sighted in a cane field at Dhakerwa Khalsa village of Nighasan block in Lakhimpur Kheri district on Friday. The is the first time in 30 years that elephants ventured outside the buffer area of Dudhwa tiger reserve and moved so near a human habitat in Nighasan, forest department officials said.All day long, the elephants remained in the field and headed towards the forest area on their own in the evening. Forest department officials kept vigil to ensure that the herd did not move any further into human habitat. They called police to control a crowd that had gathered to see the animalsDivisional forest officer, North Kheri range, Anil Patel, told TOI, "Three elephants had moved towards a village 8 km away from the nearest forest range. Fortunately, they moved back on their own without causing much destruction. These were wild elephants that migrate from Nepal. They have made Dudhwa their second home and often move around the forest.”On Friday morning, a few cane farmers found some part of their cane field out of shape. Later. On closer examination, they found the footmarks of pachyderms and immediately informed range officer Palturam about the presence of elephants in their area. The villagers initially demanded that crackers be burst to push the elephants back into the wild but the DFO said this could force the herd to move towards the residential area.The destruction caused by the pachyderms will be accessed by the revenue department.

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