Villages near Hassan district were plunged into panic when a lone elephant unleashed a torrent and damaged an auto rickshaw sitting outside a house, local people said. The incident took place at Kuppagodu village of Belur taluk and signals renewed fears over a growing human-wildlife conflict.
Local people reported that the elephant, which they say has taken off from the forest areas nearby, came into the village late in the night when you saw it in the early morning after a few hours on. It appeared to have come to a house owned by Krishnappa, and attacked an auto rickshaw parked in front of the property.
Witnesses told us that the elephant used his strength to completely wreck the truck, leaving everything damaged completely— and for no reason. The auto was twisted and crushed under the force of the animal, causing significant financial loss to the owner.
The elephant went back toward the forest and was trapped among the villagers by people in a panic. Obviously, people had experienced this kind of destruction, therefore many had not accepted the fact, and were worried about their lives.
At the same time the villagers quickly notified the forest department as to what happened. We are going to follow the elephant and do all we can so that this elephant does not continue to come here and attack human settlements and we will do everything we can to stop it.
Incidents of lone elephants, commonly called “rogue elephants” have been increasing in many parts of Hassan district since late in 2016. It is blamed the researchers on a number of reasons. They note that we are heading headlong into the forest; they have fallen prey to growing threats of predators; we are starved for food; we see more people to enter the wildlife.
Kuppagodu residents and in the other vicinity of the village also have suggested that the municipality do something (such as better monitoring and early warning systems), to avoid a repeat of such an incident in the future. Residents of the village also asked the government to pay compensation for damage paid for and goods damaged.
The forest department is likely to intensify patrolling around the area and may send up teams to herd the elephant even further in the deeper forest areas.
That is a testament to the growing human-wildlife conflict being experienced by every province in eastern Karnataka - and especially close to forest areas.
