Coimbatore: Panic as seven wild jumbos enter town

COIMBATORE: Residents of T G K Nagar at Thoppampatti had the scare of their life when a herd of wild elephants passed through the lanes on early Saturday morning.

The seven wild elephants crossed the Mettupalayam Road and feasted on bananas in a nearby plantation, a forest department official said. "We managed to chase them away before they could do any serious damage," he said.

Wild elephants coming out of the forest area to move to another mountain or forest in search of water and food is a common occurrence in villages located on the foothills of the Western Ghats, district forest officer Venkatesh said. "Thoppampatti, being on the foothills, always has rangers and staff whose main job is to chase the elephants back into the forest. Our staff managed to chase all the seven back without any incident," he said.

However, the residents of T G K Nagar said wild elephants had been regularly visiting the area for the last few months. "The residents panicked stating that they could be in danger in case one of them returns home by road late in the night or steps out of house in the middle of the night for some emergency," a forest department staff member said.