Incidents of wild elephants in Tamil Nadu destroying entire huts in villages in order to get food are very common. They use their trunk to completely devastate a house and get food, according to The New Indian Express.
However, this particular incident involving a makhna elephant is unique in its own way. Using its trunk to cleverly make a hole just big enough to fit through the wall, the elephant has shocked residents in Padanthorai, Nilgiris.
Forest department officials regularly surveilled this area in Coimbatore because of its frequent wild elephants sighting, but the incident occurred when they were in another area.
The residents of the house rushed out of there when they saw the elephant breaking the wall and took shelter in a neighbour's house. The people of the village have grown tired of these elephants destroying their houses and had recently staged a protest in the bazaar for authorities to take action.
"This incident happened a week after we staged a protest at Padanthorai Bazaar demanding the Gudalur forest division officials to drive away the elephants. It is not a few weeks, but the animal has been causing damage for a few months now," said Sekar, a local resident to TNIE. He also mentioned that people were scared to venture out of their houses at night because of these elephants.
Gudalur Forest Range officer Ganesan has said that kumkis, or trained elephants, would soon be deployed to address the issue once and for all.
(With inputs from The New Indian Express).
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