Tusker electrocuted, man trampled to death

A tusker and a man fell victim to the man-elephant conflict, in two separate incidents, along the elephant corridor in Chamarajanagar and Hassan districts on Saturday.

A tusker was electrocuted after it came in contact with a 220 KV live wire at a banana plantation at Yalandur on the fringes of the BR Hills.

Nagaraju, Range Forest Officer, said they spotted the elephant at 1.30 am and had driven it away from the plantation belonging to Shivaraj Doddegowda of Gumballi.
The tusker had returned to the plantation and came in contact with the electric fence.

Such was the impact that the skin near its tusk had peeled off, said Nagaraju.

Javid Mumtaz, DFO, and  Sridhar, ACF, visited the spot. A case has been booked against Shivaraj, who is now absconding.

Mahesh, a farmer, alleged that the forest officials had ignored the farmers’ repeated complaints on the jumbo menace.

However, the forest officials present a grimmer picture of the threat to elephants.

Malleshappa, Chamarajanagar wildlife warden, said eight to ten elephants were
electrocuted in the past four years, and it was the third elephant to die in the past few days in the BR Hills range.

An elephant died in Lokkanahalli in Kollegal one-and-half-month ago, a tusker was killed in Byluru ten days ago.

The electrocution of the pachyderms has come down following the department taking out awareness campaign on solar fencing, he said.

Man killed

In Sakaleshpur, a 43-year-old worker was trampled to death by a wild elephant in a coffee plantation.

Doddaiah, along with eight others, was working at the plantation belonging to Harish at Kotnahalli, when the elephant emerged out of a bush and attacked them. While the others managed to escape, Doddaiah was trampled to death. He is survived by wife and two daughters.

More than 25 elephants have camped in Kotnahalli, Chikkallur, Doddakallur, Aigur, Yadakeri and surrounding villages. More than 15 people have been killed in the jumbo attack and over 20 have become handicapped in the recent past, the residents said.