Elephant killed, grieving herd create big tension

Nellore: Tension gripped the Ramapuram Tanda area in Chittoor district in the Kuppam constituency of Chief Minister Naidu after the electrocution of an elephant by an electrified trap set for boars on Thursday night.

The dead elephant is a 25-year-old female elephant and mother of a calf aged around six months. It belongs to a herd of 12 elephants which migrated to the Kuppam region from Tamil Nadu last month.

Grieving over the death the herd remained near the dead elephant growling worrying people. “It is an unfortunate incident. We noticed milk oozing out of the elephant’s breast. Our men have been driving away the herd which was destroying crops. They almost reached the border and would have crossed safely if not for the trap,” Chittoor DFO T. Chakrapani told DC.

According to the DFO there are nearly 35 to 36 elephants moving in the Kuppam area destroying crops since a month. The forest department managed to drive away one herd using crackers and in the process forced this group also to leave the AP forests.

Meanwhile, locals in the Ramakuppam area blamed the forest staffers for the death saying that they had suspended the drive on Thursday. DFO Chakrapani denied the charge stating that they continued the operation till midnight on Thursday.

The police and forest officials had a tough time in controlling people thronging the area to see the dead animal and the herd hiding behind bushes.

At one stage officials took to their heels when they heard the sounds of elephants running thinking that they were charging towards them. Not withstanding to the volatile situation, forest staff, with the help of an earth moving machine, dug a huge pit and buried the animal.

Sub collector Karnan, special officer of Kuppam Urban Development Authority Priyanka and forest officials supervised the postmortem and burial. Mr Chakrapani, while referring to the behaviour of elephants, said that pachyderms will visit the spot where they buried the dead elephant and remain in the area for at least 3 to 4 days.

He said the herd will protect the calf. There is no danger to people or crops from the herd as they are grieving over the death, he added.