Advise from WII sought to check attacks by rogue elephant

DEHRA DUN: Uttarakhand government has sought advise from the experts of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to check repeated attacks by a wild elephant, which has killed 3 persons and injured two others near here recently.

The advise from experts of WII has been sought to find a solution to repeated attacks by the tusker on motorists and others in Satmore area, Divisional Forest Officer Meenakshi Joshi said here.

The incidents of attack by tusker began on the night of Dec 9 when it trampled a 85-year-old woman to death when she was traveling with her son and daughter-in-law. Next day, it injured another woman when she had gone to jungles to fetch fodder for her cattle.

On Dec 12, it attacked a man at Bhadrakali temple, who managed to save his life by climbing a tree.

The tusker last evening again came out of the jungles and trampled two more persons at Satmore area after attacking the jeep in which they were traveling.

The forest guards had to fire at least twelve rounds to scare away the animal. The road was blocked for nearly two hours.

Various options are being weighed upon to tackle the situation, including trans-location of the elephant, Joshi said. She reserved the option of shooting down the animal as the "last resort".