A tense situation prevailed in Manthawady in Wayanad after public anger over the death of a 45-year-old man in a wild elephant attack spilt onto the street on February 10.
Irate residents stopped the official car of the District Police Chief, forcing him to walk to his office. They raised slogans against the Forest department, accusing wildlife enforcers of failing to turn away the radio-collared elephant from venturing into human habitation.
They also blocked roads, including the busy main thoroughfare to Mysore in Karnataka.
The marauding elephant had chased a passerby, Panachiyil Aji, into the compound of a house at Padmala and trampled him to death.
The security camera footage of the lethal human-wildlife conflict went viral on social and mainstream media, stoking public anger against local authorities.
Government response
Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran told reporters in Kozhikode that forest enforcers had been tracking the elephant since February 7.
Scores of persons thronged the Government Medical College Hospital, where Aji’s body was kept for autopsy.
Chief Wildlife Warden, North Zone, K S Deepa, told television reporters that the Karnataka forest department had captured and released the elephant after latching on a radio collar.
Forest officials suspect network latency allegedly caused Karnataka authorities to transmit the elephant’s location belatedly to their counterparts in Kerala.
They said real-time tracking of radio-collared wild animals was rarely fool-proof, given the technical snags that could crop up at any time.
Congress legislator representing Kalpetta Assembly constituency, T. Siddique, blamed the government for the death.
Given the contiguous forests, he called for better coordination between Kerala and the neighbouring States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
A wild elephant that ventured into Mananthawady town and caused panic died during a capture and release operation last week.
