Man killed in elephant attack in Karnataka's Kodagu district

A 63-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant on Monday morning in Biruga village in the Ponnampet forest range of Kodagu district, according to forest officials.

The officials quoted villagers as saying that the deceased, identified as Aramanamada Madaiah, was taking his usual morning walk when a wild tusker suddenly emerged from a nearby coffee estate and attacked him that resulted. Despite immediate efforts from villagers, he died on the spot due to head injuries.

Following the incident, villagers protested against the forest officials, accusing them of negligence in addressing the recurring issue of wild elephant attacks. Forest officials intervened to calm the situation but villagers expressed frustration over the lack of permanent measures to mitigate the wild elephant menace, they said.

Chammatira Pravin Uthappa, a villager, stated, “We have repeatedly urged forest officials to take proactive steps to prevent such incidents, but no concrete action has been taken.” He attributed the increasing human-elephant conflicts to factors like drought, shortage of fodder, and water scarcity in forest areas, leading to elephants encroaching on human habitats.

In response to these concerns, Madikeri Division wildlife wing deputy conservator of forests (DCF) Bhaskar Raj said, “We have formed an elephant task force in Kodagu that is operational in villagers bordering forests. We also obtained permission from the state chief wildlife warden to catch and tame a rogue tusker that killed two people in the Shanivarasanthe region. The operation to catch tuskers has been going on for past four days. We will also write to the warden to issue permission to catch this elephant, which was involved in the recent incident.”

The autopsy of the deceased was conducted at the Ponnampet taluk government hospital and the body was later handed over to the family members. The officials said that the deceased’s family will be given a compensation cheque of ₹15 lakh.

In past several months, the Kodagu district has faced significant challenges due to wild elephant encounters, resulting in tragic consequences. This district has witnessed a distressing pattern of human fatalities, with the latest incident marking the sixth death since January alone.

The series of unfortunate events began on January 24 when a wild elephant fatally trampled a housewife named Baby (50) in Ammathi, Virajpet taluk, as she went to fetch milk.

Subsequent incidents followed, including the death of farmer Appachu (56) in Galibeedu near Madikeri on March 2, the demise of coffee growers Usman (45) in Polibetta on March 13, K K K Devaiah in Kakkabe on March 23, and K Jagadish in Shanivarasanthe on the Hassan-Kodagu border on March 31. These incidents underscore the urgent need for measures to address the escalating human-elephant conflicts in the region and ensure the safety of local residents.