The presence of a lone wild elephant, which has become a cause of concern to the forest officials and a score of villages between Palamaner and Kuppam Assembly constituencies, is found to be injured in the leg, and forest officials are making efforts to capture it.
Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor), T. Chakrapani visited the forest fringe villages of Baireddipalle and Ramakuppam mandals on Monday based on the reports of movement of the wild elephant. “Our trackers confirmed that the adult elephant is injured in the leg which might be the cause of its lingering alone and getting separated from the herd. It is moving in the Koundinya sanctuary. We are planning to capture it by administering tranquilisers. After treatment, we will decide on its release into the forest,” the official said.
The wild elephant, separated from a herd of 49 elephants, was found moving in the forest fringe areas in Ramakuppam mandal a fortnight ago, destroying crops and intimidating farmers on their night beats and while going to fields in the early hours. Its presence created panic among school children in the rural side.
A couple of days ago, it blocked vehicular movement on Ramakuppam-Nanyala road. An RTC bus driver had to reverse the vehicle and flee towards a tribal village to avoid the pachyderm. On Sunday night, the elephant struck the fields at Pedduru village and tried to attack some villagers on a tractor. On Monday morning, trackers found the elephant close to Baireddipalle mandal headquarters. “This male beast must have received a bleeding injury a fortnight ago while in fight with its herd members,” a forest watcher said. Another senior officer did not rule out the possibility of a bullet injury on the elephant.
Meanwhile, the officials suspect that this lone elephant might be the one which had killed two farmers in Ramakuppam area a couple of years ago.
