A young wild elephant was rescued from an agricultural pond in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, early Thursday morning. It was found trapped while forest officials were patrolling the Madukkarai forest range. In a video shared by ANI, the elephant could be seen struggling in the water.
The forest officials used an excavator to create a way for the elephant to climb out. They were heard making loud noises to shoo away the elephant towards the forest.
Elephants often come out of the forest to eat crops. In the process, they frequently destroy fields, causing significant losses for farmers. Although the conflict between people and wildlife is not new, these incidents have increased manifold in recent years, mainly due to the loss of elephant habitat caused by the clearing of forests.
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However, crops aren’t the only things they raid. On Tuesday, a female elephant and its calf, part of a herd of 14 wild elephants, damaged the steel rolling shutter of a ration shop at Theethipalayam near Perur in Coimbatore district during the early hours of Tuesday and consumed rice. Meanwhile, the other elephants damaged crops in the area.
A mother elephant and its calf broke open a portion of the shutter, inserted their trunks through the gap, and removed gunny bags filled with rice.
On Friday, an elephant was electrocuted and found dead in the Gudalur area of Nilgiris district last week. The forest officials discovered the carcass of the elephant. According to reports from Rajesh Kumar, a veterinary assistant surgeon, the elephant died due to electrocution.
The elephant died after coming into contact with an electric board line installed in the area. "The tusker pushed the tree and came in contact with the EB line, after which it got electrocuted and died in the agricultural patta land in Gudalur," said a forest officer, according to ANI.