Foresters ‘steal’ sugarcane to feed two elephants in Karnataka

BELAGAVI:  How to feed an elephant? Forest Department staffers, who have brought two pachyderms from Shivamogga to catch an elusive leopard here, found a new, though illegal, way of filling the stomachs of these mammoths. In the early hours of Wednesday, they snuck into the field of a sugarcane farmer at Mutaga village in Belagavi taluk and took away 5 quintals of his produce, farmers alleged.

The farmer, Raju Kanbarkar, found out about it when he visited his field later in the morning. He alleged that foresters have cut fully grown sugarcane. Kanbarkar later gathered other villagers, went to the golf course, where elephants are housed, and confronted the foresters.

“They first denied the allegations, but later agreed to give compensation,” he said. Forest Department sources said they will conduct a survey to assess the loss before paying Kanbarkar the compensation.