A woman was killed and three persons were injured when two Indian bison (gaurs) strayed into human settlements in Jalpaiguri district on Sunday morning.
The animals, believed to have wandered in from the Bodaganj area under the Baikunthapur forest division, were tranquillised by forest officials after nearly five hours of chaos.
Around 7am, residents of Raipur tea estate, located some 10km from Jalpaiguri town, spotted a bison. The animal entered the Bhagat Line of the tea estate and charged into the premises of a worker’s quarters.
Deumani Chik Baraik, 62, who was sweeping outside her home, was the first to be attacked. Her nephew, Sajan Baraik, rushed to help but was also injured. Both were rushed to Jalpaiguri Medical College and Hospital, where Deumani succumbed to her injuries. Sajan is undergoing treatment.
Before fleeing the area, the bison also injured another resident, Sourav Baraik, who is now hospitalised.
The second bison entered a paddy field in Rangdhamali villlage, about 12km from Raipur tea estate. There, it attacked Gobinda Biswas, a villager, who was also admitted to the district hospital.
“This is the first time we have seen bison enter our locality,” said Pradhan Hembram, a resident of Raipur.
Forest officials from the Baikunthapur forest division arrived by 7.30am but initially faced difficulties in controlling the situation due to large crowds that had gathered to take photos and videos of the animals.
Reinforcements from the Gorumara, Sukna and Malbazar wildlife squads joined the operation. The bison in Rangdhamali was tranquillised around 11.30am, followed by one in Raipur an hour later.
“We successfully tranquillised both animals and removed them from their respective areas. They will be released back into the core forest zones,” said M. Raja, divisional forest officer of Baikunthapur.