Chikkamagaluru: Spurious liquor has been suspected to be the reason for the recent behaviour of rogue elephants in the area, as per forest officials in Mudigere division who have been tracking the giant.
They reportedly feel that the elephants have developed a taste for toddy which could be why they are exhibiting aggressive behavior. However, the officials want specific reasons for elephants turning unnatural in the wild, to be studied.
Tracking elephants and noting their behavior for about six months in Mudigere, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Mudigere, Dinesh Kumar said that one of the probable reasons for unnatural behavior of elephants might be the jumbos developing taste for spurious liquor which is being prepared in parts of Javali, Megur and surrounding parts in the deemed forest areas and also outside some of the coffee estates in the region.
“It has also come to our notice that elephants destroy barrels used in the preparation of spurious liquor,” the ACF said. Meanwhile, villagers in the vicinity have brought to the notice of forest officials, the chances of elephant’s addiction to spurious liquor.
“We aren’t sure about the spurious liquor angle. But it needs to be studied”, he said.
