Elephant wanders into TN village; walks 4 km on National Highway The New Indian Express July 14, 2024 See link <https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2024/Jul/15/elephant-wanders-into-tn-village-walks-4-km-on-national-highway> for photo. A lone tusker entered Udayarajapalayam village near Tirupattur’s Madanur, on Sunday morning, triggering panic among the residents. Babu, an Ambur forest range officer said the 50-year-old elephant with short-sightedness lost its way after entering the village. "The tusker walked for 4 km on the National Highway and went into Keelmurungai village near Ambur and stay put at Vadapudupathu revenue area in the evening. Traffic was halted for a brief period in the morning when it was walking on the highway," the officer added. The forest official added that the wild elephant while on its way, damaged sugarcane, mango and banana farm lands. The official also added that the tusker was known to the residents as it uses the neighbourhood to reach the forest. “But today it lost its way and entered a village. Since morning, we have been trying to guide the animal back to the forest and we have also burst fire-crackers for it, but have not been successful till now” the forest official added. Several teams from the forest and police department are involved in the process. A team from forest department of Hosur which is specialised in dealing with elephants have also been roped in for it. Vellore MP DM Kathir Anand, along with District Collector K Tharpagaraj, visited the site near Ambur to assess the situation. They were accompanied by Ambur MLA AC Vilwanathan, District Forest Officer Mahendran, and other forest department officials. District Collector Tharpagaraj has ordered the forest department officials to take measures to send the elephant to the dense forest area so that it does not enter the villages. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2024/Jul/15/elephant-wanders-into-tn-village-walks-4-km-on-national-highway