Kamal Ghorui
RAIPUR: “Hello! Hello! Go go slowly (in forest),” the sound of this voice has now become familiar to the giant pachyderms of Chhattisgarh forests and they know they have to simply follow the instructions. In a rare display of calm coordination between humans and wildlife, a herd of elephants quietly retreated into the forest at Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district — guided not by force, but by familiar human voices. The incident unfolded on Sunday evening in the Chhal forest range, where a group of elephants strayed out of the forest and approached a roadside stretch, triggering concern among locals. But the ‘Hathi Mitra Dal’ — a trained community-based response team — brought some remarkable ease. Members of the team reached the spot and, instead of resorting to aggressive crowd control or deterrents, used measured gestures and vocal cues to guide the animals. Eyewitnesses said the elephants appeared to respond to the instructions, slowly turning and moving back towards the forest. A video of the incident also shows the elephants followed the instruction given by members of ‘hathi mitra dal.’For many villagers, the moment was both startling and telling — wild elephants appearing to “listen” to human cues is not a common sight. Yet, forest officials say such outcomes are becoming more frequent in pockets like Chhal, where the Hathi Mitra Dal has built a consistent presence on the ground.The role of these local teams — often comprising trained village youths familiar with elephant behaviour — has been increasingly critical in mitigating human-elephant conflict across north Chhattisgarh, particularly in districts like Raigarh, Surguja and Korba that fall along elephant corridors.In earlier coverage, TOI had reported how these volunteer groups act as the first line of response — tracking elephant movement, alerting villages, managing crowds and helping forest officials steer herds away from habitations without panic or provocation. Their understanding of elephant behaviour — when to stay silent, when to signal, and when to keep distance — often makes the difference between conflict and coexistence.Officials say that with shrinking forest buffers and increasing movement of elephant herds into human-dominated landscapes, such community-led interventions have become indispensable.“The idea is not to control the animal, but to create space and guide movement safely,” a forest official said, adding that timely coordination between the department and Hathi Mitra Dal has helped avert several potential flashpoints.
