A wild tusker strayed out of the Gorumara National Park in Jalpaiguri and entered a private resort in the Murti area on the fringes of the park late on Tuesday night, triggering panic among tourists and staff.
Sources said that the elephant walked out of the forest, crossed the Murti river and entered the resort.
As local residents raised an alert, the elephant moved into an under-construction resort in the area and damaged bamboo structures that were set up for a pandal for an upcoming event.
Residents as well as the employees of nearby resorts tried to drive the elephant back into the forest, but it went on wandering about in the area, frightening tourists.
Soon, a team from the wildlife squad stationed in Khunia and members of the joint forest protection committee rushed to the spot.
After about an hour's effort, they managed to send the wild tusker back to the national park area.
A few days ago, another elephant had strayed out of the jungle into a residential area and entered another tourist resort.
In recent days, several elephants are venturing out of the forest in a desperate search for fodder, said villagers.
Wildlife conservation experts have repeatedly warned about the perils of forest habitat loss and fragmentation, because of which elephants stare at a severe lack of adequate food and water resources within their natural habitats and enter human settlements.