Electric fence kills 2 elephants, leaves calf injured on trunk
A mother elephant and her calf were electrocuted while a baby elephant escaped with an injury on its trunk when they came in contact with an illegally electrified fence at a farm in Thasampalayam village near Mettupalayam, in Coimbatore District.
By : migrator
Update: 2017-01-17 21:35 GMT
Coimbatore
A senior department officer said that Palanisamy a resident of Thasampalayam, had erected electric fence around his farm, which was located a kilometre from the forest boundary to protect the crops from animal attacks.
“In the wee hours of Tuesday, a herd of four elephants - a tusker, a female elephant and two calves tried to enter the farm. Instantly, the mother (about 35-years-old) and a male calf were electrocuted,” a senior forest officer said. Another one-and-a-half year-old calf, escaped with a cut on its trunk after suffering a shock. While the male returned to the forest, the calf was stranded.
Forest officials, after a long struggle caught the calf around 12.30 pm with a net and rope. It was relocated to the forest depot at Mettupalayam and treated. The cut has been sutured and it is under observation. The calf would be freed into the forests after a few days. The farmer has been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and Electricity Act.
Injured after biting bomb
In another incident, a sevenyear-old female calf was badly injured after it accidentally bit a country made bomb ( avuttukai) . It was spotted at Seeliyur in Periyanaickenpalayam Range in Coimbatore District. “Its oral cavity was badly injured and its tongue was cut. It is battling for life,” a forest officer said. It is being treated by wildlife veterinary officer NS Manoharan but chances of its survival looks bleak, he said. This is the third incident of a calf getting badly injured after biting a country bomb.
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