THOOTHUKUDI: A 45-year-old cattle farmer was allegedly attacked by feral pigs at Kambathupatti near Pudur on Tuesday, raising serious concern among the farmers who had already been facing crop damage due to feral pig menace. Ayyappan of Kambathupatti of Sivalarpatti village was allegedly attacked by a group of 50 feral pigs while he was herding cattle in the outskirts of the village.
According to sources, Ayyappan sustained bite wounds on both legs, hands and fingers, and managed to escape due to the timely intervention of other farmers. He was rushed to Arupukottai government hospital and later referred to Madurai Medical College Hospital for further treatment, sources added.
Meanwhile, MDMK's Pudur union secretary R Raj Kumar condemned the lethargy of the district administration and the state government for not addressing the pig menace, and demanded the government to provide adequate compensation for the victim.
It may be noted that the farmers of Vilathikulam, Ettayapuram and Pudur areas have been repeatedly complaining about pigs destroying their agricultural fields in late hours. Despite multiple appeals to the district administration, no concrete step was taken to mitigate the menace. Further, the forest department's efforts to prevent pigs from entering farmlands through organic methods have not yielded results, farmers claimed.