Keonjhar: The wild elephants have destroyed over a dozen of houses and trampling croplands at villages in the Champua forest range jurisdiction.

The herd, which had strayed into the villages, are from the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district. The elephants had migrated to the villages a fortnight ago. However, they had been driven away to their habitat. But, they reappeared again on Wednesday evening, said forest officials.

Though the jumbos have caused damaged to property and farm lands, so far no human casualty or injury has been reported.

The villages affected by elephant depredation are Banika, Katulikana, Tunutuna near the dense forest areas in Champua range.

The animals led their habitation corridor of Similipal Tiger Reserve and traversed through over 100km of hilly terrains and dense forest to stray into the reserve forest. The villages, where the elephants have strayed, are home to about 6,000 residents.

Skilled service group of elephant chasers are keeping round-the-clock watch on the animals. The GPS-tracking teams have spotted the jumbos' movements near the villages. They are on the job to chase them from there.

"As the location of elephants has been tracked, we are hopeful of blocking the animals' movement route to the villages and drive them away," the official said.

Odisha, which houses 70 per cent of total elephant population in east India, has been witnessing deteriorating human-elephant conflict with jumbo depredation spreading to 26 out of 30 districts of the state. The wild animals wander villages searching for food due to shrinking habitats.

Elephant attack

A five-year-old girl, who was sleeping at home, was killed after an elephant herd went on rampage at Basupali village in Katarbaga police limits of Sambalpur on Thursday.