A ration shop near Navavoor Pirivu in Coimbatore district was damaged by a wild elephant a few days ago.
Forest Department sources said a tusker damaged a ration shop at Maruthapuram near Navavoor Pirivu and ate rice on the night of July 22.
The elephant pulled out the rolling shutter of the shop to get rice. Though the tusker is believed to have consumed a few kg of rice, the remaining portion from the gunny bag was scattered in front of the shop.
People from the locality said that five elephants have been straying into human habitations near Marudhamalai, namely Somaiyampalayam, Navavoor and Kalveerampalayam, at night and one of them damaged the ration shop at Maruthapuram.
Coimbatore forest range officer R. Arun Kumar said a border night patrol team of the Department was present in the nearby locality when the elephant damaged the ration shop. However, there was no timely alert from the local residents or shop owner, he said.
“We have instructed residents to immediately alert the Department when elephants stray into the locality or cause damages to properties,” he said.
According to him, elephants could easily sense the smell of rice from a distance. But a very few of them damage properties to grab easy food like raw rice, he said.
