COIMBATORE: A wild tusker entered the residential area at Therkkupalayam in the district on Saturday night and took away a bag full of rice from a house, which four guest workers from Bihar had taken on rent. The guest workers recorded the video of the incident that went viral on social media on Sunday.
According to an official source, the guest workers were cooking dinner at the rental house at Kennadi Thendral Nagar around 8pm on Saturday, when they noticed the wild tusker at the front door of the house.
“They immediately turned off the gas stove. The elephant attempted to enter the house, but in vain. The animal then attempted to take away things inside the house with its trunk. The guest workers threw a bag containing ration rice at the elephant, which dragged the same outside with its trunk. After eating rice, the elephant walked away from the place.”
The source said the house was owned by Thilakraj, of Therkkupalayam village near Gudalur in the district. It was rented out to the guest workers, who were engaged in construction work in the locality.
When alerted, the frontline forest staff attached to the Periyanaickenpalayam forest range rushed to the spot and chased away the tusker by bursting crackers. Forest officers said the tusker had been roaming around the locality for more than two years in search of easy food.
“We have requested the residents not to venture out of their houses at nighttime and in the early morning hours to avoid man-elephant conflict. We have deployed three frontline teams to monitor the movement of the tusker and prevent any possible conflict,” said M Saravanan, Periyanaickenpalayam forest range officer.
