COIMBATORE: Tension prevailed in the Maruthamalai foothills and the surrounding area as a wild elephant entered the human settlement and damaged two houses in the early hours of Saturday. It was reported that none was injured in the incident.
Sources said the jumbo that came to consume the jaggery bran damaged the iron gate of a house owned by one Agarwal and subsequently damaged the kitchen of one Senthil Kumar’s house at the foothills.
Senthil, a painter, said his family members were lucky to have escaped without any injury. “We were sleeping in the hall when the pachyderm damaged the kitchen and consumed rice.
This is not the first time that elephant is entering the settlement so we request the Forest Department to should engage Kumki elephants to drive back the animal into the forest,” said Senthil.After the residents raised an issue, a team of forest staff visited the spot and drove back the jumbo into the forest.
In another incident, a herd of elephants – one male, two female and one sub-adult – ventured out of Salangai Pallam forest under the Thadagam south section at 11.30 pm on Friday. Based on the information, a forest team consisting of a forest guard and four anti-poaching watchers were engaged to the duty. After continuous effort, the team managed to send the herd of elephants inside the Thadagam south forests by 2.30 am on Saturday.
Probe on to find missing elephant tusk
Meanwhile, senior officials of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) started an investigation to find an elephant tusk that allegedly went missing from the Pollachi forest range office. Sources said that the tusk had been seized and maintained at the Pollachi forest range office at the Meenkarai road. It was reported that the incident came to light after Pollachi Range Officer A Kasilingam handed over the case to the newly appointed range officer V Pugalenthi.
It may be noted that the department staff maintain a register of the seized wildlife parts along with the other details of the case, including the suspects’ name and details. However, when Pugalenthi took charge, he found that a tusk was allegedly missing from the items stored. When contacted, Pugalenthi told TNIE, “We cannot disclose the details of the case as there is a high chance of misplacement. We will get a clear picture after I go through all the documents maintained at the office from the beginning.” S Arokiyaraj Xavier, Deputy Director of ATR, also said that they would come to a conclusion after the investigation was over.