3 wild jumbos stray into human settlements

Three wild elephants, which strayed into human settlements on the border villages of Thrissur-Palakkad districts since the past two days are giving sleepless nights to the people, even as forest and police officials are trying to chase them back into the forest.

The jumbos, including a tusker and a calf, were spotted in various areas in Thrissur-Palakkad districts.

According to local people, the animals were first spotted in Mundur and Parali areas of Palakkad yesterday and later found in Thiruvilwamala and adjacent places in Thrissur.

The elephants strayed into the densely populated areas after crossing the National Highway, Bharathapuzha river and railway lines in many parts, they said.

Wildlife officials have been deployed in large numbers in the areas where the animals had been spotted.

Alerts have been issued to the public to confine themselves in their homes and not to assemble in large numbers near the elephants and provoke them.

The forest department also sought the help of trained persons to drive the pachyderms back to the forest.

Animal rights campaigner V K Venkatachalam said the forest officials should have driven the elephants back to the same forest where they came from.

“The elephants might have come out of forest in search of food and water and they might have lost their way back to forest. Though three elephants were spotted earlier, the calf among them is said to be missing now,” he told PTI.

He also said the increasing presence of settlers in forest fringe areas act as a blockade for wild elephants to go back to forest.

“This incident highlights the urgent need to educate the forest department officials to use proper and scientific means of redirecting the path of movement of wild elephants, entering into human inhabited areas to their original path towards forest elephant corridors,” he added.

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