Four wild elephants, straying near human habitat in Sorab taluk over the past few days, raided fields on the outskirts of Tumarikoppa, Kachavi and Bankasana villages on Friday.
It may be mentioned here that the four – comprising two females, one male and a calf – were sighted near human habitat in Jade and Anavatti Gram Panchayat limits in Sorab taluk on Tuesday. They had moved to Talagadde protected forest limits on Wednesday.
According to the Forest Department officials, the elephants entered Sorab taluk from the forest near Dandeli in Uttara Kannada district. The department launched an operation to drive the elephants back in to the forest.
Three mahouts from Sakrebail elephant camp near here are assisting the department in tracking the movement of the elephants. Javed Basha Angadi, Range Forest Officer, said on Friday evening that the elephants have started heading towards the forest in Uttara Kannada and were traced near Andige village.
Enroute their journey from Talagadde protected forest to Andige, they damaged paddy, arecanut, banana and coconut crops on a large tract of land in Tumarikoppa, Bankasana and Kachavi villages.
The department is collecting information from the farmers on the loss and compensation will be extended to them as per existing norms in an expedited manner, he said.
