A herd of wild elephants broke down a portion of the boundary wall of Nandankanan Zoological Park to enter its jumbo enclosure in Bhubaneswar on Thursday night.

Two captive elephants, which were inside an enclosure in the zoo, suffered injuries in a tussle with the herd of three wild jumbos.

"The herd entered the zoo and had a tussle with two captive elephants - Chandan and Basanti. Our patrolling staff reached the spot and the wild jumbos escaped by damaging the 20ft boundary wall. The two captive elephants have suffered minor injuries and are being treated by out vets," said zoo deputy director Jayant Dash.

On March 22, another wild jumbo had strayed into the zoo after breaking the boundary wall.

"Following the incident, the zoo authorities strengthened night patrolling around the elephant enclosure and boundary wall. We are constructing iron barriers for the elephants, which will be completed in another 15 days," added Dash.

"The entry of the elephants has raised questions over the maintenance of zoo's boundary wall. The wall separates the zoo from Chandaka sanctuary.

We are inspecting the boundary wall regularly to find out vulnerable portions. We have also started repairing the damaged portions on a regular basis," a zoo official said.

Text by Lelin Mallick
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