Special teams comprising forest and police personnel were formed in Puttur and Karveti Nagaram forest ranges to track the movement of two wild elephants, after they killed an elderly watchman at a mango orchard on Sunday.
Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor Wildlife Division-East) G.G. Narentheran told The Hindu that the special parties were formed to prevent the two elephants from moving closer to agriculture fields, human habitations and national highways.
Of the three elephants forming the Bachelors’ Group, while one turned into a loner, the other two are criss-crossing Puttur and Karveti Nagaram ranges. The elephants are depending on the sparse vegetation on the hillocks and occasionally raiding the crops.
Mr. Narentheran said the wild elephants could have left the Karveti Nagaram reserve forest area and entered the plains due to a fire reported few days ago.
Mr. Narentheran urged cattle herders not to resort to forest fires as it would reduce edible grass for the elephants and increase the lantana growth, which is harmful for the cattle when ingested. The DFO appealed to the people of the villages to cooperate with the personnel in the operation to confine the animals to the forest area.
Meanwhile, forest officials handed over an initial ex gratia of ₹1 lakh to the family members of the watchman at their residence at Kalyanapuram, near Puttur, on Monday.
