COIMBATORE: A 23-year-old postgraduate student from Rajasthan, who was attacked by an elephant on the campus of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in Anaikatti on Tuesday night, died in a private hospital on Wednesday.
According to sources, SACON, which is located near a reserve forest, is left unfenced in some places to facilitate free movement of animals. This is the first such death inside the campus since its inception in 1990.
According to Coimbatore forest range officer R Arun Kumar, the victim, Vishal Shrimal, was studying M Sc wildlife science at the University of Kota, Rajasthan, and had come to SACON a week ago for dissertation work. “Shrimal and his friend were walking to the hostel situated behind the main building of SACON when a lone tusker emerged from behind tall bushes and came charging at them. Frightened by the trumpeting sound, the two tried to escape, but Shrimal fell down and the elephant trampled him,” Arun Kumar said.
He was admitted to a private hospital, but died without responding to treatment around 4.30 am on Wednesday. “His rib cage was completely damaged and it led to suffocation. Despite CPR, he could not be saved,” Kumar said.
The body was taken to Coimbatore medical college hospital where a postmortem was conducted. The body was taken to Bengaluru in an ambulance and airlifted to Rajasthan, sources said Arun Kumar said they collected Rs 65,000 through donations and handed it over to Shrimal’s brother along with the forest department’s initial compensation of Rs 50,000. Shrimal is the seventh victim in human-animal conflict this year in the seven forest ranges of the Coimbatore forest division.
Sources said the institute had failed to inform the student about the elephant movement on the campus and the Rajasthan native was not aware of it. Animals used to move frequently inside the campus to quench their thirst in a water tank exclusively set up for animals by the institute which is functioning under the union ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
Following the death, Coimbatore forest division officials have instructed the institute to clear bushes on the campus for better visibility. “We have told them to set up CCTV cameras and additional lights at necessary places. We have also asked them to shift the water tank to stop elephants from entering the campus,” Arun Kumar said.
The forest department has also told authorities to ask students not to venture out of their rooms after 7 pm.
Stating that compensation of Rs 5 lakh given by the forest department is not enough, wildlife and nature conservation trust (WNCT) founder N Sadiq Ali appealed to the state government to give Rs 10 lakh solatium to the kin of animal-attack victims akin to what was given to the families of the recent hooch tragedy victims.