The elephant blocks the highway at Poro on Thursday. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar/Jalpaiguri, Oct. 13: An elephant with a damaged tusk and an injured limb today blocked traffic on a highway in Poro for nearly an hour.

More than 200 vehicles were stranded on NH31C near the Poro forest of Buxa Tiger Reserve as the elephant stood still on the road, 15km from Alipurduar town.

Sources said the jumbo had sauntered out around 9am. Instead of crossing the highway, it suddenly stopped on NH31C, bringing many vehicles screeching to a halt. Soon, more than 200 vehicles got stranded on either side of the road that links Assam to Bengal.

Foresters said the tusker had a minor injury on its right hind leg and a damaged tusk. A 10-member forest team was pressed into service to steer the tusker into the forest.

“While driving, we saw a queue of vehicles and stopped the bus. Initially, we thought there was a road blockade, but we soon learnt that it was a road blockade of a different kind — done by an elephant,” said Utpal Baidya. “For once, the passengers were not annoyed with the delay. Some of them climbed up to the roof to catch a glimpse of the animal. Others walked ahead to click pictures on their cellphones.”

The jumbo tale continued even after the tusker walked into the forest after an hour. In Haldibari Tea Estate, 70km from Poro, a newborn calf was spotted in the garden with its mother.

Kalyan Das, the divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri, said: “A herd of elephants were moving from nearby Reti forest to Moraghat through the tea estate. While on the move, a pregnant female gave birth to a calf in adjoining Telepara Tea Estate,” he said. “The newborn then headed for Moraghat with the rest of the herd through Haldibari.”

Leopards rescued

Two leopard cubs were spotted at Dalgaon Tea Estate in Falakata today. Foresters refused to shift the cubs, saying it would give the mother a chance to come back for them.