Kendrapara, Nov. 17: Residents today staged a demonstration in front of Gahirmatha forest range office after six persons were injured in an attack by rogue wild boars at Mahakalpada in Kendrapara district.

Angered by frequent acts of trespassing of wild boar and other animals into places of human habitations, hundreds of residents, mostly from villages near Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, took out a rally and held a demonstration in front of the forest range office.

A horde of wild boars attacked farmers in agriculture fields and injured them. The condition of the injured, who are undergoing treatment in a government-run hospital, is said to be out of danger. In retaliation, the mob hacked to death a male wild boar.

The protesters, mostly from Gogua, Suniti, Jamboo, Batighar villages, demanded an early end to straying of animals into human habitations and compensation to farmers who have suffered damage to their standing crop.

"People here are victims of tidal water ingress and intrusion of wild boars into the village. Crops and agriculture fields are ravaged by the animals. The forest personnel simply watch silently as people suffer," alleged Bijoy Pradhan, one of the protesters.

The villages in and around the sanctuary often encounter man-crocodile conflict. Reports of crocodile killing people and retaliatory attacks by people are often in the news.

Every day, farmers who live near the sanctuary's periphery wake up to see their crops being ravaged by straying boars, said a protester.

Divisional forest officer of Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) forest division Bimal Prasanna Acharya said: "The forest administration is aware of the people's grievances. Compensation is being paid to those injured. Besides, those whose fields were damaged by animals will be duly compensated. To curb the straying of wild animals, galvanised steel fencing has already been installed along the sanctuary-side villages. More areas will get barriers to stop the straying of animals."