Wild elephant dies of electrocution in Karnataka

A wild elephant aged around 35 to 40 died of electrocution in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. The male elephant was electrocuted after it came in contact with a live electrical wire.

Mangaluru: A wild elephant died of electrocution in Kombaru village of Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada district at the wee hours of Tuesday. The elephant was apparently foraging near the agricultural field when it came in contact with an electrical line that had fallen on a tree.

Villagers reported the incident to the forest department and the forest team held an investigation on the spot. Officials from electrical and police departments also visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

According to forest officials, the male elephant is aged 35 to 40 years and both the tusks are intact.

"We will conduct a postmortem of the pachyderm and the animal will be buried accordingly. The postmortem report will be sent to higher officials", the forest official said.

Meanwhile, the villagers urged the forest department and the government authorities to dig trenches along the forest boundaries so that the elephants remain inside the forest. Agriculture is the predominant occupation of the region and the man-animal conflict has become rampant of late.

"There are no other livelihood options other than agriculture here and our lives of late have become like a circus of managing the wild animals foraging our crops", lamented a farmer.

After the news spread, the villagers from nearby areas came to see the elephant. Some paid homage to the dead animal as well.

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