Ooty: As man-elephant conflict is on the course of escalation in the Nilgiris border in the recent weeks, now, the straying of a wild makhna elephant (tuskless male) in rural limits at Gudalur in Nilgiris border has become a cause of concern.
People are expecting foresters to chalk out plans to ward off the threat from the solitary stray elephant there. Residents in Dharmagiri hamlet near Gudalur have now turned panic-stricken as the stray makhna elephant which moved into the tea plantations there triggered panic amongst the plantations workers, who out of fear, are afraid of venturing into the farm fields.
Not only that, the wild jumbo which is moving around the human settlements there also began to raid to crops in the night hours, thus, inflicting damage to the farm fields and farmer’s economy.
The residents wanted the foresters to evolve some workable solution to tackle the wild jumbo menace as sending the children to the schools and to move to the farm lands have become a problem now. Forest sources said that forest teams have been formed to tackle this issue and to drive this jumbo back to the woods.
