A Gaur, also known as Indian Bison, damaged the furniture at a house at Devarshola Bazaar village in the Nilgiris as it fell on the bed through the roof early on Sunday morning. The incident occurred in Adhigaratty Beat of the Kundah Forest Range.
The house belonged to K. Babu, an estate worker. It is covered with metal sheet and stone tiles for roofing. He was watching television on Sunday morning at around 2 a.m. when he heard the metal sheet overhead creak. A small road from the main village meets the roof of Babu’s house, which is at a lower level than the house.
Mr. Babu woke up his wife and was trying to find out what was happening when the the roof suddenly started caving in. “I saw the hooves of the animal break through the roof, and ran out of the house with my wife, Logeshwari,” said Babu. Just as they were fleeing the house, the huge animal fell into the house, breaking some furniture, including the wooden bed. As Mr. Babu and his wife cried for help, the animal rushed out of the house and disappeared into the surrounding tea estates.
Local peole said that due to the failure of monsoon, wild animals had been straying into human habitations frequently. They said that when water was more readily available, the animals would stray into the tea estates and leave by nightfall. Apart from the Gaur, even bears and leopards had been spotted close to the village. The local people had urged the Forest Department to take steps to prevent animals from straying into human habitations.
An official from the Forest department said that Mr. Babu and his wife would be paid compensation for the damage to their roof and furniture.
