Four wild elephants came into contact with a high tension wire at Ammathi vontiangadi village in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district on Tuesday and were instantly electrocuted.
This is the second such incident in the last 15 days. Two elephants had died under similar circumstances in the district on June 14th taking the death toll of elephants to six in the last one month.
Conservator of Forests Manoj Kumar, who confirmed the incident, told The Hindu that as per the initial reports he received, the elephants which were foraging for fodder came into contact with the low-hanging wires and died on the spot. While two of the elephants were adults, two appeared to be sub-adults.
The scourge of elephant deaths due to electrocution had been eliminated in the last two years. With such incidents increasing, the forest department officials now plan to take up the issue with the Chamundeshwari Electricity Corporation Ltd. (CESC).
Kodagu district has a strong elephant population; but the extent of coffee plantation is more than the forest cover. Hence, the authorities included these plantations for the Synchronized Elephant Census conducted during May this year to arrive at a baseline figure as estimates varied from 50 elephants to nearly 200 elephants.