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Elephant kills woman in Idukki
Police said the victim was a tea plantation worker in Munnar, Kerala and was returning to work when the elephant attacked.
A 36-year-old woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant on a road near Munnar in Kerala’s Idukki district early on Friday, police said.
The woman, P Viji, and her husband going on a motorbike encountered the elephant at a hairpin bend at Sankarpandiamettu, at least 22 kms away from hill destination Munnar.
Her husband said both panicked after seeing the elephant on the road and he tried to take a U-turn but the bike skidded and both fell on the road. The elephant charged at them and stomped Viji fatally. But the husband escaped with minor injuries.
Police said both are tea plantation workers in Munnar and they were returning to their work after meeting their relatives in Theni district of Tamil Nadu.
According to statistics of the Kerala forest department from 2010 to 2020, 173 people die in man-animal conflicts. The highest number of deaths were reported in 2016 – 33 – and the lowest in 2015, of six. Among 173, 120 died in elephant attack. In the same period, 64 elephants also died after being hunted, electrocuted, hit by speeding vehicles and from explosives. The state’s most conflict-prone areas are Wayanad, Palakkad and Idukki districts, said the report.
Wildlife experts say jumbo straying can be contained by managing elephant corridors intact. They say one of the main reasons for elephant attack in Idukki district is encroaches along Anamalai-Periyar tiger reserve elephant corridor. They say shrinking of their habitat and corridors force many elephants to foray into human settlements. “We need a healthy co-existence of both. If we respect the need of both we can lower tension between two,” said Dr P S Esa, a leading wildlife expert.
Kerala has a robust forest cover, 29% of the total area and it has a healthy wildlife population, 190 tigers and 5706 elephants. But at the same time forest encroachment is also rampant in many parts of the state. Wildlife experts say jumbo straying can be contained effectively by leaving elephant corridors intact.
They say one of the main reasons for elephant attack in Idukki district is encroaches along Anamalai-Periyar tiger reserve elephant corridor. They say shrinking of their habitat and corridors force many elephants to foray into human settlements. “We need a healthy co-existence between humans and animals. If we respect the need of both we can lower conflict between two,” said Dr P S Esa, a leading wildlife expert.
