The tourism lobby of Munnar in the Idukki district of Kerala is allegedly milking the wild elephant scare in the state by enticing tourists with the chance to spot the tuskers.
Such suspicion was raised amid video footage of a vehicle sounding its horn in an attempt to provoke a known wild elephant of Munnar.
‘Padayappa’, the wild elephant that has been causing panic in Munnar for quite some time, was seen being provoked in recently-released video footage. The forest authorities have registered a case and trying to trace the vehicle.
Arun Maharaja, a Munnar forest range officer, told DH that local tour operators appeared to be exploiting an alarm message sent regarding the presence of wild elephants. “To avoid human-animal conflicts, the forest department alerts local circles about the movement of wild elephants. It seems that local tour operators were misusing these alerts to woo tourists. The forest department will make people aware of this, and stringent action will be taken,” he said.
For quite some time, many parts of Kerala have been threatened by wild elephants. The BJP even staged a hartal in various parts of Palakkad district on Tuesday, accusing the government of being indifferent in addressing people’s concerns over a wild elephant.
(Published 19 January 2023, 01:27 IST)
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