Mangaluru – The forest department is keeping a vigilant eye on the movement of three wild elephants in the Dakshina Kannada region, with two in Puttur sub-division and one roaming in Hebri, under the Kudremukh Wildlife Division (KWD).
In Kolthige, local residents are increasingly alarmed as their crops are repeatedly damaged by elephant intrusions. One villager shared that around 2 am on Wednesday, an elephant entered their land, uprooted banana plants and devoured jackfruits. Hearing dogs bark, the family discovered the destruction and quickly notified forest authorities.
Subbayya Naik, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Puttur, stated that drive-back operations to guide the elephant deeper into the forest would resume on Thursday.
Simultaneously in Hebri, a 25-year-old male elephant is being monitored for its habitual movements through wooded terrain. Shivaram M Babu, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), KWD, noted that the elephant emerges frequently after rainfall, and plans are in place to safely relocate it if needed.
This comes weeks after a fatal elephant attack on April 29, where a 65-year-old woman in Kolthige lost her life. That incident had prompted the department to initiate an elephant-repelling operation.
Notably, on June 5, forest officials successfully captured and radio-collared another elephant heading toward Siddapur in Kundapur taluk, marking a proactive step in human-wildlife conflict mitigation.
Read Also: