Bhubaneswar, Nov. 26: Man-animal conflict in the state has claimed three lives in the past 24 hours.

Two members of a family were trampled to death by elephants in Mayurbhanj district last night and another person was killed by a leopard in Ganjam district this morning.

The deceased have been identified as Phlamani Nayak, 65, and Sania Nayak, 2, of Tiasi Lodhasahi village in Rasgobindapur forest range of Mayurbhanj district. The two were trampled by the elephants while they, along with their family members, were sleeping under a temporary polythene-covered structure.

“The herd, with around 100 members, have come from Jharkhand’s Dalma sanctuary and have been wrecking havoc over the past month in the area. Although they were chased out of state after a lot of difficulty about a week ago, they have come back,” said Bijay Kumar Panda, the divisional forest officer of Baripada.

In the other incident, Kama Sahu, 55, a farmer, died when a leopard attacked him at Badachadhiapada village, about 50km from Berhampur this morning.

“The leopard grabbed Kama by the neck when he was on the way to his brinjal field on the outskirts of the village. Kama succumbed on the way to Polsara Hospital,” said Polsara forest range officer Kumar Behera.

Forest officials said the leopard may have come from Jamunagiri Hills, which is about a kilometre away from the spot. Though the residents had past experiences of wild bears entering the village in the recent past, this was the first incident of a leopard entering the area and attacking somebody.

Elephant menace has been a major concern during the paddy harvest season of paddy in Mayurbhanj and Sundergarh.

Sources in the state forest department said that reports of large-scale crop damage have been reported from both districts.

“While a herd of elephants are on a rampage in various areas of Sundergarh, another herd is destroying crop fields in Mayurbhanj district,” said a senior forest official.

Sources in the forest department said that lack of adequate police forces for rescue operations in Mayurbhanj district has added to the elephant menace. “ Since last three days we are not getting adequate support from the police due to the ongoing agitation by a political party in the district which is coming in the way of rescue operation in elephant dominated areas,” said a senior forest official.

However, Principal chief conservator of forest (Wildlife), J.D Sharma said that though the government has been trying to sensitise the people, lack of awareness is the reason behind man-animal conflict.

“ We have taken all the precautionary measures to tackle elephant menace. The people need to cooperate us,” said Sharma.