The officials are stepping up their persecution efforts to prevent them from approaching the residential areas
After killing an elderly farmer and injuring a woman near Chittoor on Wednesday, the lone elephant has become elusive and has forced forest personnel to step up tracking of the animal to prevent it from entering fields and human habitation approaching.
District Forestry Officer (Chittoor East-Wildlife) GG Narentheran said the elephant moved towards the thin forest cover behind the district collector on the Chittoor-Vellore motorway after attacking the two people. “After entering the poorly wooded area, the animal was difficult to catch. Since its movements have become vague, our staff are constantly trying to track down the elephant and expect it to return to the east side, ”he said.
The elephant is part of a three-person “bachelorette group” that moved from the Tamil Nadu forests to the Chittoor district in January. The group roamed the fields and hilly terrain in the Nagari plains between Narayanavanam and Karveti Nagaram for four months. The herd killed a night watchman and injured four villages in Puttur and Karveti Nagaram. One of the trios became a loner in early March and is believed to have been electrocuted in a sugar cane field near Narayanavanam on May 22.
The other two jumbos were also separated and became loners. One of them joined Chittoor West Division on May 18, the other caused a flutter near Chittoor and attacked two people on Wednesday.
Officials expressed confidence that the last part of the bachelor group would be herded into the west section, which houses the Koundinya sanctuary with over 50 elephants, including residents and migrants from Jumbos.
Mr Narentheran said the Vajravelu family members who were killed by the elephant were given an instant relief of £ 1 lakh. “We will be represented with the government to give the victim’s family £ 5 ex gratia,” he said.