47-year-old man trampled to death by elephant in Uttarakhand
The man was grazing his cattle when he by mistake entered the reserve forest area and was attacked by the elephant, said Ramanagar forest division officials.
A 47-year-old man was trampled to death by an elephant in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district on Sunday evening, informed officials.
Chandrashekhar Joshi, divisional forest officer (DFO) Ramnagar, where the incident happened, informed that the man was trampled to death when he took his cattle for grazing in the forest.
“A 47-year-old man was trampled by an elephant in Devchauri range of Ramnagar forest division on Sunday evening around 6:45 pm. The man was grazing his cattle when he by mistake entered the reserve forest area and was attacked by the elephant,” said Joshi.
He added that the man was injured and was rushed to a hospital by forest officials but was declared dead at the hospital. The deceased’s family is being given due compensation of Rs 3 lakh by the forest department.
Aggression of some elephants in Uttarakhand’s Corbett and Rajaji National Park landscape, two bastions of wild elephants in the state, is a major concern for wildlife officials.
Earlier, Bhuwan Ram, 51, a forest watcher was killed by an elephant in Karakot in the Haldwani forest division in the month of June. In July Parvati Devi, 60, a forest watcher’s wife, was attacked and killed in Kishanpur range of Terai east forest division.
Parag Madhukar Dhakate, conservator of the western division in Kumaon, said that man-animal conflict has increased because of several reasons, including humans coming close to the forests for habitation. “The natural corridors have been encroached by humans and people go inside the forests and it’s a huge risk as forests are the territory of the wild animals. There is a need to sensitise people about man-animal conflict and how to avoid it.”
In November last, a wild elephant killed two people in Haridwar when it went on a rampage in two villages.
