Uttar Pradesh: Baby elephant Durga declared Dudhwa Park's new mascot

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to declare baby elephant Durga as the new mascot of Dudhwa National Park for the tourist season beginning from November 16. According to local people, Durga has gained popularity among tourists. She is very friendly and lets tourists selfies with her. 

Dudhwa National Park ready for the tourist season

The field director reflected on the tourist season and said that Dudhwa National Park is ready to welcome the tourists. All the repair and development work of the National Park is complete with new internal roads and routes. The national park might also introduce elephant safari. He further said that is pregnant rhino will also deliver her offspring in the coming weeks. Moreover, the Park authorities will reveal the statistics for the tiger population in the National Park before it opens for tourists. 

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Durga, the new mascot of Dudhwa National Park

A documentary video by Goan connection revealed that Durga was only three months old when she parted her ways with her family. She was severely attacked by a group of bees. Later, she was orphaned in the Najibabad forest division of Bijnor. The former deputy director Mahaveer Kaujalg named her Durga when she was first brought to Dudhwa. According to the zoo officials, Durga is taken care of at the park’s camp office. They reported that she was extremely weak when she was brought to Dudhwa. She was kept under the supervision of doctors who prescribed her formula milk, which is also used for human babies. The zoo officials consulted  Dr KK Sharma, who is a pachyderm expert from WWF-India along with Dr Aditi Sharma, a veterinarian from Rajaji Tiger Reserve.

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The herd of wild elephants return to Nepal 

The forest officials also informed that a herd of 30 wild elephants which had created terror among the villagers around Mailani and Kishanpur ranges of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) has returned back to Nepal. They further added that Deputy Director, DTR buffer, Anil Patel have been continuously monitoring the movement of the elephants and coordinating with the forest teams to minimize human-animal conflict and that damage caused by a herd of elephants. 

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