On Tuesday, in the Shilipada cashew forest of the Keonjhar district of Odisha, 24 elephants drank mahua liquor and kept on sleeping for hours after consuming it. The villagers, in order to produce mahua liquor, had kept mahua flowers in water for them to get fermented, and the elephants which were roaming the jungle, drank this water.
After the liquor hit the elephants, they fell asleep at places near the same spot, following which the villagers got to know of this incident and tried to wake the elephants up, but they were unable to do so.
After the forest department workers were informed of the same, they reached the spot, and they were able to wake the elephants up by playing drums.
There was a total of 9 male elephants, 6 females, and 9 calves. After the drums were played and the elephants woke up, they went deep inside the forest.
The flowers of the mahua tree are fermented, in order to produce an alcoholic drink, also called mahua. This liquor is traditionally made by tribal men and women across various parts of the country.
