One of the wild elephants of a herd which entered in to the residential area of South division of Chokkanad estate in Munnar fell in to a septic tank and was found dead on Friday morning. The four elephants widely damaged the standing crops in the area and it intruded in to the residential area around 2 a.m. on Friday.
The forest officials with the help of Fire and Rescue Service personnel using an earth remover later removed its carcass and a postmortem was conducted by the veterinary surgeon from the Periyar Tiger Reserve, Sreejith, by the evening.
Munnar Divisional Forest Officer Induchoodan said that the animal died as it fell into the tank in dog position and there was considerable pressure on its abdomen. When an elephant falls in to a tank or well in dog position, it dies within two hours, he said.
According to Mr Induchoodan, there was increased presence of wild elephants in the residential areas in recent times. It was after the traditional path of the wild elephants' to the water sources in Chinnakkanal and Kuttiyar Valley were blocked as the land was allotted there by the government without considering its impact on the wild animals. He said that the Forest Department had objected allotting land on the traditional path of the wild elephants. He said that on Thursday night there was report that a wild elephant entered on the main Munnar- Marayur route blocking the traffic for some time.
