Elephant herd crosses Gonikoppal main road (State of Karnataka, India)
The Star of Mysore
June 9, 2021
See link
https://starofmysore.com/elephant-herd-crosses-gonikoppal-main-road/ for
photo.
PONNAMPET: Kodagu District’s people live in a constant fear of elephant
encounters and the Forest Department has done nothing to prevent this. Even
politicians are sitting tight only giving statements on and off whenever
there is an elephant attack.
In a previously unheard of incident, a herd of elephants was spotted
crossing the Gonikoppal-Ponnampet Road near Aruvathokkalu Coffee Board
yesterday and there were a minimum of 13 elephants including bulls, females
and calves. The herd emerged from a coffee plantation on the main road and
crossed to the other side amidst a row of houses, workshops and other fruit
outlets.
The incident has sent shockwaves among the residents as they have said that
it is for the first time wild elephants were found on the main road.
“Though Aruvathokkalu has some forest area and Devarakadu it is not a
territory for wild elephants. While, the Gonikoppal town is hardly one
kilometre from here, Ponnampet is located at two kilometres distance,”
Chengappa, a resident of Aruvathokkalu told Star of Mysore.
The herd has crossed the landscape and is camping at Manikoppa near Balaji
village near Mayamudi, spreading terror there too. According to the Forest
Department officials they were trying to drive the elephants back into
Nagarahole Forest. “While chasing them off from Aruvathokkalu, we fired gun
shots in the air and this scared the elephants and the herd crossed the
road. As there was no traffic, a major incident was averted,” said a forest
officer.
Man Trampled Two Days Back
The elephant herd has been split and while one group is camping in the
surroundings of Aruvathokkalu, the other is camping at Manikoppa. Forest
Department officers say that it is one of the elephants from the same herd
that may have killed a man who was on a walk with his pet dog at
Aruvathokkalu on Monday.
Rangaswamy, 52, a resident of PHS Colony in Aruvathokkalu, was taking his
usual morning walk near his house alongside his pet dog. However, at around
6 am, an elephant inside a private estate suddenly attacked Rangaswamy who
was thrown away. He suffered serious injuries on his chest and leg.
Though he as immediately taken to Gonikoppal Hospital for first aid
treatment and was being shifted to Mangaluru Hospital, he breathed his last
due to heart attack and pain.
Villagers who are highly critical of the Department said that the herd has
been camping inside estates since a fortnight. “Our repeated complaints
were not taken into account and one life has been claimed. These forest
officials too do not visit estates to find and drive away elephants.
Instead, they roam around in official jeeps and claim that there are no
elephants,” Chengappa added.
https://starofmysore.com/elephant-herd-crosses-gonikoppal-main-road/