A lone tusker from a forest entered a village in Gobichettipalayam block, Erode district on Friday.
In the morning, people of Ukkaram village in Sathyamangalam heard the sound of barking dogs and found an elephant in the village. The elephant entered a farmland but the people there chased it away. Later, the elephant arrived at Vellimalai Karadu in Kasipalayam village in Gobichettipalayam, and was found in a sugarcane field. Forest Department officials have asked people to remain cautious and stay indoors.
Officials of the T.N. Palayam Forest Range said that the elephant had ventured out of the forest area from the Vilamundi Forest Range in Sathyamangalam Division and had lost its way. The elephant, aged about 15 years, had walked along the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal for a few kilometres and reached the habitations, they added.
R. Kiruba Shankar, District Forest Officer, Sathyamangalam Division and Deputy Director of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), said that a safe passage would be created for the elephant to return to the forest and the drive would commence on Friday evening. “The distance between the elephant’s current location and the forest is 14 km”, he added.
