A four-year-old elephant was killed on Tuesday after it came into
contact with an illegally electrified fence around a tapioca field at
Burgur near Sathyamangalam in Erode district. Forest officials have
arrested the land owner in connection with the incident.
The elephant, forest department officials said, came into contact with
the live wires when it tried to enter the tapioca field. “The land
owner had installed an electric fence around the field without
obtaining permission from the concerned officials,” they said.
The land owner was identified as C Chinnaiyan, 52, of Burgur village.
The village is situated adjacent to the Bhavanisagar reserve forest.
To avoid man-animal conflict and protect the crop, Chinnaiyan had put
up an electric fence around his entire agriculture land.
“He disconnects the electric line during the day and connects it at
night,” said Nagaraj, district forest officer, Erode district. He
confirmed that Chinnaiyan had not obtained any permission to install
the electric fence.
On Tuesday around 4am, the elephant strayed into the field and tried
to damage the fence, using its trunk, when it came into contact with
the live wires. The animal died on the spot, the official said.