A wild elephant strayed into a tea estate in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday early morning and devoured as many as 40 ripe jackfruits from a tree before returning to the Gorumara National Park.
Sources said the elephant entered the Bamandanga-Tondu tea estate in Nagrakata block of the district.
It reached the Beech Labour Line area and damaged vegetables planted next to staff quarters. Then it entered the campus of Jagadish Singh, a garden employee, and spotted the jackfruit tree.
“We saw the elephant standing under the tree and gulping jackfruits one after another. Initially, it devoured all the fruits within the reach of its trunk. As it saw some more fruits farther up, it raised its forelegs to reach them,” Deepak, Jagadish’s son, said.
“There were around 40 jackfruits which we were supposed to take down soon. The elephant ate them all and left,” he said.
Deepak said he and his whole family stood on the verandah to watch the elephant feast on the jackfruits.
Old-timers at the tea estate said it was rare that an elephant polished off 40 jackfruits in one go.
Manmansi Khalko, an officer posted in the Gorumara south range, said wild elephants did get attracted to ripe jackfruits. “We heard about the incident. Our personnel were told to monitor the elephant’s movement,” Khalko said.