Hassan: They were installed to keep elephants from straying into villages and destroying crops, but the rail fences seem to be proving dangerous for the jumbos.
An elephant appears to have injured itself while trying to cross the spiky fence in the Nagarhole National Park. Farmers near the fringes of the park noticed bloodstains on the rail fence and informed a wildlife volunteer in the Ankammanahalla area of the Veeranahoshalli range.
Having checked the spot and spoken to tribals , the volunteer says the injured elephant has been spotted limping and roaring in pain in the forests.
"A few tribals tried to venture near it, but it drove them away," he told the Deccan Chronicle. On Tuesday the elephant was not able to stand on its bleeding foot, according to him.
The volunteer found to his concern that the iron spikes on the fences were rusted and what is more claims to have come across found similar iron spikes on the concrete fence along the Taraka reservoir on the fringes of the Nagarhole National Park and along the Hosahalli boundary in the Antrasante range.
While director of the Nagarhole National Park, Manikandan says they are trying to monitor the injured jumbo, a wildlife conservationist insists it is time to do something about the situation.
"The injury caused to the Nagarhole jumbo should open the eyes of forest officials to the threat posed by the rail fencing to animals and they should remove it at least now, " he adds.
