Residents worry as jumbo herd stays put at coffee estate (Sakleshpur, India)

Author(s)

The Hindu

Date Published

Residents of Sakleshpur town continue to remain in a state of worry as a herd of nine wild elephants has been camped at a coffee estate near Anemahal on the outskirts of the town for a few days now.

At any time, the elephants can walk onto National Highway 75 that connects Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

For the last three-four days, a herd of 24 elephants was spotted in coffee estates near the town. Among them, 15 elephants are said to have moved to a distant place, while the rest are still around.

Newborn in herd

“One of the elephants in the herd gave birth two days ago. Owing to the presence of a young member in the group, the elephants are more aggressive. We are making all possible effort to drive them back to the forest area. We can see them moving at a distance from us, but they are not going back yet,” M.L. Manjunath, Deputy Conservator of Forests, told The Hindu on Sunday.

The officers are camped at Anemahal, on the outskirts of the town, and are doing all they can to stop the herd from entering human habitat.