Forest dept field staff injured in elephant attack in Wayanad

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Wayanad: A field staff of the forest department escaped with minor injuries after a wild elephant attacked its patrolling vehicle at 10th Mile, Sugandhagiri, in the early hours of Friday. The injured person has been identified as forest field watcher Raman, son of Vellan, a resident of the Puthenpura tribal settlement.
The incident took place at around 2.30 am, according to a communique issued by the forest department. He was part of a six-member patrol team led by the Kalpetta Forest Range Officer. The team rushed Raman to the Government Hospital, Kalpetta, where he is recuperating now. Officials said that his injuries, which are limited to his leg, are not serious.
The incident occurred when the patrolling vehicle and the elephant met at the Chekuthan Bridge on the rural road at Sugandhagiri. A plantation zone under the forest department. In a state of aggression, the animal attacked the vehicle with its tusks, trying to lift it on one side at the bridge. Raman was injured when he was trying to escape from the animal, jumping down from the vehicle, to the opposite side, evading the attention of the animal. The vehicle also has some minor damage from the attack.
There were six persons in the vehicle, and when the elephant blocked the road near the bridge, all of them stepped down expecting that the animal would be moved away from the road, said South Wayanad DFO Ajith K Raman. He added that against the calculations of the patrolling team, the animal charged at the vehicle. “All five personnel escaped to safety without any injuries, whereas one person got trapped between the vehicle and the bridge, sustaining minor injuries," he told Onmanorama.
A semi-forest zone, the Sugandhagiri area is notorious for recurring elephant herds, and attacks on human settlements have been reported many times in the recent past. This is the first time a forest department vehicle has been attacked in the area in the recent past.