Couple trampled to death by wild elephants in Andhra Pradesh

Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Aug 30:  In another major instance of man-animal conflict, a couple was killed and another person injured in an attack by wild elephants in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district, near the Tamil Nadu border, on Wednesday.

The couple was trampled to death in 109 Ramapuram Village in Gudipala mandal abutting the Vellore highway.

Venkatesh, 50, and his wife Selvi, 48, died on the spot when the elephants attacked them as they were walking towards their fields.

In another incident in CK Palli, a youth was critically injured after a wild elephant attacked him.

He had gone into his agriculture field after learning that elephants had strayed into the area and were damaging crops.

The youth was admitted to CMC Vellore, where his condition is stated to be critical.

According to forest officials, the pachyderms entered the village around dawn. They killed cattle tied in front of the houses and then trampled a couple to death and injured a third person.

The aggressive jumbos created havoc in the village as people woke up on hearing the cries of the victims and ran helter-skelter.

On learning about the rampage by the elephants, forest personnel rushed to the village and launched an operation to contain them.

Chief Conservator of Forest P. Nageswara Rao, who rushed to the village from Tirupati, was monitoring the operation.

Residents of the nearby villages staged a protest on the highway leading to Chittoor town, demanding the authorities to take immediate steps to ensure their safety.

The incident occurred in Chittoor constituency close to Chittoor town, raising concern that the problem of wild elephants has spread in the region.

Attacks by wild elephants were reported in the past in and around Koundinya reserve forest spread across Palamner and Kuppam constituencies.

In May, two persons were trampled to death by wild elephants in two separate incidents in Mallanur and Sappanikunta villages under Kuppam mandal. The jumbos had entered from Tamil Nadu, where they had earlier killed a farmer.

Last year, three persons were killed by a herd of elephants in Chittoor district.

Wednesday’s incident is the latest major instance of man-animal conflict in undivided Chittoor district.

A six-year-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard on Alipiri trekking route on August 11.

The incident occurred when she, along with her parents, were walking to Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.

Following the incident, forest personnel have trapped three leopards in the cages and shifted them to SV Zoo at Tirupati.

Loss of habitat and food resources are attributed for the increasing incidents of animals venturing into human habitations in the region.