Denizens, officials worried as 3 jumbos stray into Tirupati outskirts
TIRUPATI: A herd of three wild elephants, which were on the prowl close to villages in the eastern mandals of erstwhile Chittoor district, have walked onto the outskirts of Tirupati city on Wednesday night, triggering panic among the denizens and forest officials.
The elephants gave tense moments to the residents of Tiruchanoor and the surrounding areas at night and reached up close to the Thukivakam Pond, 13 km away from the pilgrim city, a day after they crossed the Srikalahasti region.
The forest department issued an advisory on Thursday, saying the wild jumbos have entered the forest in Karvetinagaram mandal. There was a chance they enter human habitations in Puttur, Narayanavanam, Vadamalapeta and Nagari mandals.
Officials tracking the movement said the jumbos that had recently migrated from Gajulamandyam to the eastern mandal entered the Thukivakam pond area through the sand reaches in Ramakrishnapuram of Guravarajupalle panchayat by the morning. Divisional forest officer Pawan Kumar reached the area along with his staff and made attempts to safely drive the elephants back to the forest by bursting of crackers.
Later in the night, the herd comprising two full-grown males and a sub-adult male was seen roaming near Thanapalli cross. They crossed the Naidupeta-Puthalapattu highway near the Tiruchanoor flyover on Wednesday night.
Earlier, the jumbos were spotted in Vengalarajukandriga, Nagari, Gajulamandyam, Yerpedu, Srikalahasti and its surrounding regions. They trampled the paddy crop in the early hours of Wednesday in Yerpedu.
Though the jumbos are on a stroll for the last 30 days, they were calm so far. There is no case of severe property damage, the DFO said. He advised the public to remain alert and stay at least 100 metres away from the jumbos and avoid causing any obstruction to their movement. Any such attempt would make the animals violent.
Farmers in the region were also advised to remove electric fences in their fields to avoid electrocution and death of the pachyderms.
According to forest officials, the three bachelor elephants had left the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary at Palamaner-Kuppam tri-state border four weeks ago. They entered the district from the forest at Naraharipet check-post on Chittoor-Vellore highway in January, before foraying into the rural stretch of GD Nellore mandal and Chittoor outskirts.
