A wild elephant was found electrocuted after it uprooted an electricity pole at a field near Kothigutta village of Palamaner mandal, abutting Koundinya wildlife sanctuary, 50 km from here, on Friday morning.
Forest officials heaved a sigh of relief after it came to light that 20 other elephants of the herd had escaped unhurt. The fresh casualty is the twelfth in Chittoor district in the last two years.
According to information, the large herd was found moving around close to the fields at the village late on Thursday night by homebound farmers. Around Thursday midnight, a group of villagers rushed to the fields to prevent the herd from damaging the groundnut crops. The noise generated by the farmers led to confusion among the pachyderms, which began running helter-skelter.
In the melee, a sub-adult female trailing its seniors uprooted an electrical pole. The overhead unwired power lines across the fields snapped and fell on the raging jumbo, killing it on the spot, while the others had advanced forward and did not make an attempt to return, thus averting a major tragedy.
In view of the live power lines falling on the ground, the farmers too had retreated, thinking the entire herd had left the fields.
Meanwhile, the farmers on their way to the fields on Friday in the early hours found the carcass of the elephant with snapped power lines from the uprooted pole wrapped around it.
Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West) S. Ravi Shankar along with senior Forest Department officials from Palamaner and Chittoor ranges rushed to the spot and conducted enquiries with the villagers, forest watchers and elephant trackers. He said the circumstances leading to the casualty would be thoroughly probed.
“While running away from the field, the elephant unfortunately uprooted a power pole, which was whitewashed. The wild elephants’ aversion to white-coloured objects could be a reason for the elephant to uproot the pole,” the official said. After conducting a post-mortem, the carcass was cremated at a forest location nearby, while some locals conducted prayers.