Another elephant herd appears in Hunsur

A herd of nine elephants were spotted in Hunsur taluk on Friday, raising concerns among the local population. This is the second herd seen in the taluk in a span of a month, which has resulted in damages to crop in a few villages in the taluk.

The herd was first spotted at Heggandooru village, neighbouring Veeranahosahalli forest area, where the herd destroyed crops. The herd were seen in Hairige lake on Friday. Officials from the Forest department were seen making attempts to drive the elephants away to the forest. However, presence of a large crowd delayed the efforts of the forest department.

During the operation, three male elephants seperated from the herd and remained at the Hairige lake, despite efforts to drive them away.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Prasanna Kumar said that all the elephants have been successfully driven back into Nagarahole National Park. “Six elephants had been driven away by around 1 pm in the noon. It took us a bit longer to drive away the three elephants which were at the Hairige lake. After much effort, the remaining elephants too were driven away into the forest at around 7 pm,” he said. 

Noting the inconveniences caused due to the presence of a large crowd during the operation, he requested that the public refrain themselves from gathering in large numbers during such operations. “It is a difficult to manage the crowd, than drive away the elephants,” he said.Crop loss

The herd damaged maize and paddy crops belonging to 10-15 farmers from Hindagudla and Odambalu villages. A pumpset belonging to a farmer called Kempegowda and drip irrigation of Cheluvegowda were damaged.