A male elephant deviating from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), damaged houses and vehicles in Nilakottai town will be sent back to the tiger reserve, said the Vengatesh Prabhu subdivision forest official (Gudalur) said.
Video tapes about elephants destroying buildings and cars were on mobile messaging apps Monday, requiring animals to be captured and relocated. However, Mr Prab said the elephant damaged a building and a vehicle while trying to navigate between habitats.
“The elephant is from the MTR and has not been documented in the Gudalur department. We suspect it is just a wandering incident and are convinced that it can be sent back to the forest.”
After dusk on Monday, the forest department will begin driving the elephants back to the tiger reserve. They said that at present, the elephant is 1.5 km from the MTR boundary between the Nilakottai and Bitherkad forest range.
publishing – May 5, 2025 at 07:23 pm ist
