Karnataka, Tamil Nadu forest officials intensify efforts to track tusker after two fatal attacks The New Indian Express July 12, 2024 See link <https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2024/Jul/12/karnataka-tamil-nadu-forest-officials-intensify-efforts-to-track-tusker-after-two-fatal-attacks> for photo. The death of two people in an elephant attack in the past five days has made forest department staffers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu pull up their socks and get a hold of the situation. Karnataka forest officials are using all technology at their disposal to track down a tusker that is alleged to have trampled two people near Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), Kodihalli range, bordering Tamil Nadu, in the past five days. Around 9pm Wednesday, a lone tusker is said to have trampled a farmer identified as Suresh (45), when he was returning from his fields in Gattigunda. Four days ago, a tusker had trampled a man aged 38, when he was going to his field at 3am. The distance between the two accident spots is 6km. Agitated by the deaths, farmers staged a protest in the village and near the BNP office, demanding barricading be done and the animal be captured. “The movement of elephants has been on the rise, earlier because of drought, and now because of rain. Elephant populations have increased. Using the Hejje app, we have narrowed down on one tusker, and are using night vision drones to track its movement. At present, it is inside the forest and moving towards TN. Our counterparts have been informed. Once it is confirmed that it is the same animal that killed two people, a final decision will be taken on capturing it. Locals say it is a lone wandering tusker that killed the two men. But there are many tuskers, makhanas and herds moving, we have to be sure,” forest officials said. He said since the past few weeks, they have been sounding repeated alerts and have been cautioning people of high elephant movement, so they don’t venture out at night or early morning. Postmortem of the deceased confirmed they were killed in an elephant attack. As per norms, compensation of Rs 15 lakh is given to the family members of the deceased, the official said, adding that areas where the incidents happened are listed for rail barricading, but work is slow. In Kodihalli range alone, 6km of rail barricading is being done. In BNP, around 60km of rail barricading needs to be done. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2024/Jul/12/karnataka-tamil-nadu-forest-officials-intensify-efforts-to-track-tusker-after-two-fatal-attacks