Balasore, July 23: Officials of the wildlife division of Baripada today drove out a rogue tusker, which had killed four persons in the area.

But, they have to deal with three more wild tuskers, one of which has been camping in the area for past one week and killed a minor girl and two others, which entered the area last night. Two of these have entered the area via Bengal.

Sources said two jumbos were moving about in the Asabani reserve forest under the Betnoti range.

“There has been one tusker in our range for about 10 days. Now, two others have joined it. They damaged three houses last night,” said Betnoti range officer Basant Kumjar Mohanty.

An official said three deaths due to jumbo attack had been confirmed.

Baripada divisional forest officer Sanjay Kumar Swain said: “The rouge tusker has been pushed back. We have three confirmed death reports. The deceased are Ambika Jena, 13, Sueshen Baitha, 70, and Dahanay Murmu, 65.”

“Efforts to stop the two tuskers’ entry from the Bengal end near Moroda by engaging two kunkis failed. The tuskers are taking shelter in the Asanbani reserve forest of Betnoti,” he said.

Another two tuskers are also wreaking havoc in the Nilgiri area of Balasore. They have damaged more than 40 houses.

“The spurt in man-animal conflict is due to tree-felling and encroachment on their dwelling areas,” said a wildlife activist.

“Human settlements are increasing in forests. Depletion of forest patches, coupled with mining activities, is the major cause of their disturbance. Therefore, they are invading the human habitations,” he said.