Tirupati: A 35-year-old cattle rearer was killed in an elephant attack in the Pulicherla reserve forest area of Chittoor district on Tuesday evening.
According to Chittoor district forest officer Chaitanya Reddy, the deceased Masthan entered the reserve forest area along with other villagers in an attempt to chase away a wild elephant. The villagers were shouting and waving sticks to scare the elephant away.
All of a sudden, the tusker attacked Masthan with its trunk. Masthan suffered fatal injuries and died on the spot. The Pulicherla police rushed in and transported Masthan's body to the nearest hospital for autopsy.
Meanwhile, forest officials deployed special elephant tracking teams in the village to monitor elephant movement and prevent further incidents.
Condemning the practice of teasing wild elephants, DFO Chaitanya Reddy appealed to people not to confront the animals within the forest reserves. "Chasing or provoking wild elephants is an extremely dangerous act,” he said.
