The presence of a 14-member herd of wild elephants, accompanied by four lone elephants in Palamaner and Kuppam forest ranges, continues to worry the farmers who have suffered heavy damage to their standing crops of tomato, vegetables, and paddy.
A fresh incident of crop damage was reported from Singasamudram village of Ramakuppam mandal, where a three-member herd had damaged vast stretches of vegetable crops, besides crashing to ground several coconut trees.
In another incident, a full-grown tusker, believed to be the fifth lone elephant under the sanctuary belt, had created a flutter on Sunday night by entering the premises of a popular food processing industry at Moghili village in Bangarupalem mandal. Crates containing tomatoes were trampled. While the staff on duty ran helter-skelter, the tusker reportedly had a free stroll on the campus till early hours.
The movement of wild elephants close to the Chittoor-Bengaluru and Madanapalle-Krishnagiri national highways has also become a cause of concern to the forest officials.
‘Lure of vegetable crops’
Divisional Forest Officer S. Ravi Shankar said it was the lure of vegetable crops like tomato, sugarcane and paddy, attracting the wild elephants to agriculture fields. He, however, clarified that there was no shortage of fodder for the elephants in the sanctuary.
“They are on the prowl to satisfy their special appetite. We have informed the farmers to immediately inform the forest officials when they come across the presence of any herd. Our personnel at the field level are monitoring the movement of the elephants day in and day out,” he said.
Moreover, the forest officials heaved a sigh of relief saying that a majority of the elephants, believed to be around 90, in the Palamaner and Kuppam ranges had confined themselves to the Koundinya sanctuary.
