VELLORE: Three elephants that strayed out of the forest near Vellore, were chased away into the woods of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, after a coordinated drive by officials of the forest department from both the States.
The jumbos migrated from Koundinya wildlife sanctuary to Thengal village near Katpadi on Friday. The local villagers tried to chase them away when they were crossing the Thengal Road but could not succeed. Subsequently, they alerted the forest department officers.
Led by District Forest Officer (DFO), Vellore, Bhargav Teja, the staff of the department camped in the village and tried to chase the elephants by bursting crackers and lighting fire balls. Andhra Pradesh forest department staff too joined them in the operation.
Subsequently, the jumbos were chased away from the village late on Friday night. “The elephants moved into Andhra region eight to nine kilometres away from the Tamil Nadu village. There is no problem now,” said Bhargav Teja.
The elephants had damaged sugarcane grown in farmlands at Thengal village. The extent of damage is yet to be assessed by the forest department officers. “It is a rare incident. Elephants do not migrate this far in this side,” Bhargav Teja said.