BHOPAL: In a tragic incident, a forest ranger posted in the Panna Tiger Reserve was mauled to death by a tiger-tracker elephant on Friday.
The incident happened in the Hinaut forest range of the tiger reserve in Panna district when the ranger BS Bhagat was about to embark on the male elephant Ram Bahadur for the tracking of a tigress.
According to the state forest department, the ranger who originally hailed from Chhattisgarh and has been posted at the same range for the last eight years was to join his team on a group of tiger-tracking elephants for tracking a tigress in the lower but dense forests.
While he was handing over a wireless communication set to his team members on the elephant, the animal went berserk and pushed the ranger with the trunk.
Before the other staff members could do anything, the tusker attacked the ranger with the tusk, inflicting severe injuries to the officer. The ranger succumbed to wounds subsequently.
Sources at the Panna Tiger Reserve said the ranger was an expert in tiger tracking on elephants and had even rode the same elephant in the past.