Coimbatore: Morning walker injured in wild elephant attack

COIMBATORE: A 55-year-old man was attacked by a wild elephant on Tuesday, when he went for a morning walk at Sholayar. One of his ribs was fractured in the incident.
The forest department, meanwhile, requested the tea estate workers in the area not to go for a walk in the early morning, as they wouldn’t be able to spot any wild animals in the misty conditions.
A forest officer said the incident occurred around 6.30am, when S Durairaj, of Sholayar Estate Second Division near Valparai, went for a walk. “When he neared Nallakathu Sungam bus stop, a wild elephant suddenly attacked him. He suffered injuries to both his legs and hands. Hearing him cry for help, an anti-depredation squad, who were patrolling the locality, rushed to the spot and took him to Valparai government hospital in the estate management’s ambulance.”
At the government hospital, the officer said, Durairaj was given first aid and later referred to the government hospital at Pollachi, where doctors found one of his ribs was fractured in the elephant attack.
The forest department officials have handed over Rs50,000 to Durairaj’s family towards his medical expenses. Durairaj was shifted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for further treatment.
A Manikandan, Manambolly forest range officer, said the tea estate labourers were advised not to go for a morning walk to avoid the possibility of a man-animal conflict. “We will deploy two watchers in the tea estates, if there is wild elephant movement. Anti-poaching watchers and the anti-depredation squad are on high alert. The tea estate management should inform the forest department, if they notice any wild animal movement in the locality.”
Pointing out that the wild elephant migration was on now, he said more than 50 elephants were present in Manambolly and Valparai forest ranges in the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve. “We have instructed the tea estate management not to press their employees into work if wild animal movement is detected in the area.”