Bhubaneswar, Dec 5 (IANS) At least 26 wild elephants entered two villages of Orissa and damaged crops, an official said Friday.

The elephants residing in the Barpahar forest reserve, about 300 km from here, entered Majhimunda and Rengali villages of Subarnapur district Thursday.

‘We are estimating the amount of crops they damaged in more than four acres of area,’ Divisional Forest Officer Prasanta Kumar Mishra told IANS by telephone.

He said a dozen forest officials and about 2,000 villagers managed to drive the elephants out Thursday night by beating drums and lighting fires. The elephants often enter villages due to shortage of food in the depleting forest cover.

According to officials, Orissa houses around 1,900 elephants.