Forest dept tracks YouTuber who escaped elephant charge while filming herd in Wayanad

Wayanad: A YouTuber who had a narrow escape while trying to film an elephant herd in Bandipur National Park is on the radar of the Kerala forest department. The incident came to light after a group of tourists from Tamil Nadu recorded the youth filming the elephants and later shared the video of the elephant charge and his narrow escape on social media.

Identified as Jabir, a native of Kalloor near Muthanga,  the youth came on a two-wheeler. After parking the bike along the road, the youth traversed away from the road to capture the visuals of the herd, which was grazing. A statement from the forest department said the video, showing the youth arriving on a bike bearing registration number KL 73 D 1369, went viral on social media.

The vehicle was traced to Abdul Jeleel P, son of Abdul Nazer, from Kalloor near Sulthan Bathery. When contacted, Jeleel told officials he was not at the scene and that the vehicle was being used by his brother, Abdul Nazer. The youth in the video was confirmed to be Jabir, Nazer’s son.

As the incident took place on the Karnataka side of the forest, the case has been handed over to the Karnataka Forest Department, the release added.