A male elephant believed to be around 4 to 5 years old died of electrocution after it came into contact with an illegally set up electric perimeter fence set up around a farm at Vattakulli near Murukkambadi in Bitherkad forest range on Thursday morning.
Forest Department officials said that the elephant had tried to enter the farm of V. Saji, an area resident who was growing tea and areca nut on a four-acre plot which is under dispute, and is believed to have been encroached.
C. Manoharan, Forest Range Officer, Bitherkad range, said that Saji had seen that the elephant had died and had fled to his hometown in Kerala with his family on early Thursday morning. “We have registered a case under the Wildlife Protection Act based on the instructions of the District Forest Officer, Gudalur Division, Kommu Omkaram, and are on the lookout for Saji,” he said.
Mr. Manoharan said that Saji had illegally connected electricity directly from his house to the electric fence. Farmers and residents have been directed to use energisers for fences, to prevent such incidents, but in many cases, these directions are ignored, officials said.
Forest Department officials said that they would recommend that power connection to Saji’s house be disconnected, due to his illegal use of the electric fence around his farm.
This is the second death of a wild animal resulting from electric fences in the last few days. On Tuesday, a sloth bear died after getting trapped in a fence in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
N. Sadiq Ali, Founder of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT), said that the use of any kind of electric fencing in ecologically-sensitive areas posed a threat to wildlife. “The TNEB should be held liable in instances where fences are powered illegally, and action should be taken against workers and officials responsible,” he said.