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2 killed in wild elephant attack in Thrissur
According to the relatives and local panchayat officials, the victims were among a group of people who were allegedly attacked by a herd of wild elephants while they were inside the forest
Two people, belonging to the tribal community, were allegedly killed in a wild elephant attack near the Athirappilly waterfalls in Thrissur district of Kerala on Monday night, officers said on Tuesday, adding that this is the third such incident reported in the area in the last 48 hours.
The deceased were identified as Satheesh, 30, and Ambika, 37, residents of the Sasthampooam tribal settlement, they added.
According to the relatives and local panchayat officials, the victims were among a group of people who were allegedly attacked by a herd of wild elephants while they were inside the forest, upstream of the Chalakudy river, under the Vazhachal division foraging wild honey.
“They were collecting honey inside the forest when they were attacked by a herd of wild elephants. There are people who have seen the attack and informed us. The body of Satheesh clearly bears injuries that are sustained in an elephant attack. The post-mortem examination will confirm it. Their temporary tent has been destroyed by the elephants as well. No foul play suspected,” said KK Rijesh, president of the Athirappilly panchayat.
Rama, who was part of the group of tribals collecting honey inside the forest, told the local media, “We were sitting on the rocks by the riverside around 7pm on Monday, when a herd of elephants came from behind us. One of the elephants attacked me and threw me into the river, following which I got injuries in my neck. I swam to the other bank of the river to escape.”
She added that it had been a week since they went into the forest and wanted to collect enough money to buy clothes and toys for their children for Vishu, the new year according to the Malayalam calendar.
Vazhachal DFO Lakshmi told reporters, “Once the forest officers heard the incident, they quickly went there and found the body of Satheesh. The body of Ambika was fished from the river. Police came around 8.30am and retrieved her body. Both the bodies were brought to Chalakudy in ambulances by 10am.”
“There are minor injuries on Satheesh’s body. We will have to wait for the post-mortem report to confirm the cause of death,” she added.
The DFO said that all the tribal settlements were advised to take adequate safety precautions while collecting honey within the forests. “While staying inside the forest, they set up only a small tarpaulin calendar,” she said.
Forest department statistics showed there have been at least 18 fatalities in human-wildlife conflict in the state, most of which are sustained in elephant attacks.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan blamed the LDF government for not finding long-term solutions to the raging issue of human-wildlife conflict in the state.
“The forest department must identify areas with maximum elephant-human conflict and depute special squads there to give them warnings. The forest officials must scare away wild animals from human settlements. But the state government is doing nothing. In the last six years, over 1,000 people were killed in such conflict,” he said.
