Beyond the call of duty !!

hindusthan Samvad 20 march । Many of us can not even imagine, the kind tough and perilous conditions our #Vanrakshaks work, day in and day out. One such situation can be witnessed in this video which was shot and shared by one of the forest guard, Shri Kamlesh Nanda, posted in Panpatha Wildlife Sanctuary, which is part of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR).
Range Officer Parag Senani, his team comprising of Kamlesh ji, along with a team from WWF had gone to forest camps of Panpatha for inspecting the damage done by herd of wild elephants. This herd has been damaging a lot of camps, solar pumps etc for past few days in BTR.

While they were at one such camp in beat Hardi, the team heard some distinct noises indicating that a herd of elephants was somewhere near by. The team decided to check the herd in order to understand their current movement and the direction they may move towards next. So the team went ‘on foot’ towards the cacophony of noises and after going some distance they saw the herd of about 25-30 elephants.
Realizing the presence of humans near by, the herd of elephants split themselves into 2-3 group and one herd of about 15 elephants started moving immediately in one direction. Watching this, Range Officer and his team stopped at some distance when suddenly the second group of about 7-8 elephants went behind the team and crossed the road from some distance when this video was shot. The remaining 3-4 elephants stayed at their original position intently watching the entire events.
As a spectator we might find this video to be very thrilling and exciting , but imagine that our brave #vanrakshaks; beat guards, forest guards and other frontline staff of forest; work in such risky conditions everyday only to protect our jungles and wild animals, without bothering about the danger their lives are in, specially when they do “foot” patrolling on regular basis.
We salute their spirit of selfless work and dedication which is definitely ‘Beyond the call of the duty’.

input- M.P. Tiger Foundation Society, India