Foresters in West Midnapore — one of the four Jungle Mahal districts known as the elephant zone of south Bengal — have begun planting around 50,000 bamboo trees at three strategic locations to create a fresh food source for elephants and avert human-animal conflict.
After a successful test run last year, where 4,000 bamboo trees were planted in the Chandra range, forest officials have now decided to go for large-scale bamboo plantation.
Bamboo is considered one of the elephants’ favourite foods.
“Planting bamboo was our pilot project last year, and it was very effective. We found that a herd of 25 elephants that entered the Chandra forest range did not venture into any human habitation for at least five days as they had an adequate food,” said Deepak M., the Midnapore divisional forest officer (DFO).
“Based on last year’s experience, we have decided to plant 50,000 bamboo trees in three strategic elephant zones — Chandra, Lalgarh and Piraghata — within our division this year,” added the DFO.
Bamboo apart, foresters have been cultivating a special variety of grass — Saccharum narenga, locally known as dhadda — which is considered a food source for herbivores.
The human-elephant conflict in the Jungle Mahal districts (West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia) has become a persistent challenge for the forest department in recent years. As forest vegetation grows sparse, elephants raid agricultural fields in search of food.
A senior forest official stressed that elephants typically raid farms in south Bengal and human habitats due to sparse forest density and limited food sources. Human-animal conflicts claim at least 10–12 lives annually in the region, posing a major concern for the forest department.
The Jungle Mahal, particularly districts like West Midnapore, Jhargram, and Bankura, houses 150–200 elephants throughout the year. Elephants frequently change their location as they roam in search of food.
As of Tuesday, around 180 elephants were reported to be present in at least a dozen locations across the Jungle Mahal forests.
Bamboo plantation is considered a low-cost way to create a food source for elephants compared to fruit-bearing trees like jackfruit and mango. A source said the forest department requires only ₹30,000 to plant bamboo across one hectare of land.
“Bamboos grow rapidly, while trees like jackfruit and mango take a long time to bear fruit. Most importantly, bamboo is already found sporadically in forests, and our work is to propagate bamboo shoots,” said a forester.
“In Midnapore, members of the Joint Forest Management Committee are involved in generating bamboo shoots. They keep bamboo nodes under sand for three to four months until they sprout. Once ready, we simply plant them in areas where the forest is sparse,” said DFO Deepak M.
State forest minister Birbaha Hansda stated that in addition to bamboo, her department had been planting various trees and grasses across the south Bengal region to create alternative food sources for elephants.
“As the number of elephants has been increasing in the Jungle Mahal zone, we must create more fodder for them. Considering the shortage of natural food sources, we have been planting various trees and grasses in the forest to support the elephant population. It’s crucial to prevent crop damage,” said minister Hansda, who is the MLA of Jhargram, one of south Bengal’s key human-elephant conflict zones.