Elephants scared away by people

Puttur (Dakshina Kannada district) : Two elephants that have been scared to death by the action of the local people, have been separated from their herd and are roaming in the fringe areas of Puttur and Sullia taluks in Dakshina Kannada since late evening on June 10. They are now hiding near Kedambadi village few meters away from the residence of the MLA of Puttur Ashok Kumar Rai when the reports came in last at 8.30 pm on Tuesday (June 11).

According to the forest officials, two elephants came in search of food along with 12 other elephants from Parappa village in Kerala which is their natural migration route between Wayanad to Kodagu. The two elephants were just a few hundred meters away from the herd and caught the aroma of ripened jackfruit and moved towards a fringe area of a village in Puttur taluk, this is when the locals started bursting firecrackers to chase them away. Instead of chasing them into the path they came in the villagers drove them deep into the opposite way. This has led the elephants to be separated from the herd and are now dangerously poised to enter villages of neighbouring Buntwal taluk.

According to the forest officials in all probability, if the people do not interfere more, the elephants might find their way back to their herd on their own, cross the river and go into the reserve forests. The forest officials of three taluks in Dakshina Kannada district are on alert and tracking them closely. But due to heavy rains lashing these parts of the district, the tracking has become hazardous for the forest officials.

In the meanwhile the MLA Ashok Kumar Rai and the former MLA Sanjeev Matandoor have been unnecessarily interfering in the work of the forest department and giving directions to them on things they do not have any knowledge of, creating bottlenecks in the operations.