A herd of elephants sleeping soundly in the forest, near a location for brewing, prompted forest rangers to beat drums to wake them up.
An elephant sleeping in the forest in Keonjhar district, Odisha. (Photo: PTI).
When villagers living near the Shilipada forest in Keonjhar district, Odisha, went into the woods to prepare for brewing liquor, they discovered 24 elephants that appeared to be intoxicated, India Today reported on November 10. They were sleeping near large jars where mahua flowers were being fermented with water. The flowers of the mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia) are fermented to produce a type of liquor. People in various regions of India traditionally make this liquor.
“We entered the forest around 6 AM on November 8 to prepare the mahua and found that all the jars were broken and lacking the fermented liquid. We also discovered the elephants sleeping. They had drunk the fermented water and were intoxicated. The liquor was still unprocessed. We tried to wake the herd but were unsuccessful. We then notified the forest authorities,” said Naria Sethi, a villager.
Upon arrival, the forest rangers had to beat drums to wake the herd of elephants. Ranger Ghasiram Patra noted that they subsequently moved deeper into the forest. He was unsure if the elephants were intoxicated from drinking mahua, suggesting they might just have been resting. Meanwhile, many villagers asserted that they encountered elephants sleeping in a drunken state in various locations near the broken jars on November 8.
Mahua is a favorite of wild Indian elephants, according to Kartick Satyanarayan, the executive director of Wildlife SOS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in India. “They love mahua. It’s pure, delicious, and very potent. When they smell it, elephants may extend their trunks into kitchens or break walls to get to the liquor. They then stagger away, knocking over trees or houses along the way,” Satyanarayan stated.
Indian elephants (Elephas maximus indicus) are one of three subspecies of the Asian elephant. An adult can reach heights of up to 3.5 meters and weigh between 2 to 5 tons. They are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. They face threats from poaching, habitat loss, and fragmented populations.
