A male elephant was found electrocuted in a banana plantation at Varappalayam village near Coimbatore on Saturday. Forest officials said the tusker, aged between 12 and 15 years, was found dead in a land belonging to Manoharan and Naresh, located around 1 km from Thadagam north reserve forest area. Senior officials rushed to the spot and inspected the carcass.
An assistant executive engineer, an assistant engineer from the Tangedco and the village administrative officer of Nanjundapuram panchayat were also present.
They found that the trunk and abdomen of the tusker were in contact with an iron cable that was erected around the farm for electric fencing. The officials were checking whether the fencing was powered using a DC energiser, which is an approved mode of electric fencing that gives mild, intermittent shock to scare animals. In normal cases, fencing with alternating current (AC) as the source of power leads to electrocution. According to District Forest Officer T.K. Ashok Kumar, the land owners Manoharan and Naresh were at large. A wildlife offence report has been registered and a probe is on.
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