The wild elephant nicknamed Baahubali that is known for frequenting villages around Mettupalayam damaged the compound wall of the Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) on Kotagiri Road late on Sunday.
As the tusker entered the campus, it knocked down a life-sized elephant replica that the college administration had placed inside.
According to the Forest Department, the elephant crosses Mettupalayam – Kotagiri Road after sunset most of the days. This is to move from Jaccanaire reserve forests of the Mettupalayam forest range to Odanthurai reserve forests of the Sirumugai forest range. After feeding agricultural crops in areas falling under the Sirumugai range, it returns to the Mettupalayam forest range early in the morning.
On Sunday night, the tusker crossed Kotagiri Road near the FCRI campus. The elephant first pushed the compound wall of the college to get inside. Later it damaged the elephant replica inside, before moving further towards the back side of the campus.
Teams headed by M. Manoj and Joseph Stalin, forest range officers of Sirumugai and Mettupalayam ranges, are monitoring the movement of the tusker at night to avoid close encounters between the animal and people.
