Elephant Gets 'Drunk' In Bengal After Consuming Rice Beer

An elephant caused a ruckus in Hamiltonganj, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal after consuming the Handia. It is also known as Hadia and is a traditional rice beer that traces its roots back thousands of years in the tribal regions of India. According to Local 18 West Bengal, the elephant was spotted standing straight in the area adjacent to the forest. It was evident as per the local reports that the elephant did not know to go in which direction.

The terrified local natives finally reported to the forest department because of the fear of how the drunken elephants could cause damage to their locality. The Hamiltonganj Range Office of the forest department was also scared of the giant animal. The Forest officials reached the spot but could not manage to make the elephant reach the forest. As seen in the Local 18 visual, the unarmed officials watched the elephant from a distance and didn’t even go near to control the animal somehow.

According to the Press Trust of India report, a similar incident happened in 2022 when 24 jumbo elephants enjoyed mahua, a traditional country liquor. They then slept for hours in an Odisha forest. The natives of a nearby village living near Shilipada cashew forest in Keonjhar district discovered this sight.

At that time, they went inside the forest to prepare the liquor. They found that a herd of elephants had already devoured the water fermented with the intoxicating mahua flowers and were in deep sleep. “We went into the jungle at around 6 am to prepare mahua and found that all the pots were broken and the fermented water was missing. We also found that the elephants were sleeping. They consumed the fermented water and got drunk,” Naria Sethi, a villager, told PTI.

Can Elephants Get Attracted to Alcohol?

A scientific study conducted by Steve Morris from the University of Bristol found the answer affirmative to this question. The study said that elephants are attracted to alcohol but it’s not possible to become drunk by eating marulas. Marula tree is a deciduous tree growing up to 18 m tall. They grow on various types of woodlands on sandy loam soils.