Out For Morning Walk, Elderly Man Killed In Elephant Attack In Karnataka

A 63-year-old man died after he was attacked by an elephant in Srimangala Wildlife range of Kodagu district on Monday, officials said.

The incident occurred at a coffee estate at Beeruga in Ponnampet taluk in the district around 6.30 am, they said.

According to the forest department, Ayyamada Madaiah went for a morning walk near a coffee estate and all of a sudden an elephant came from the opposite side and attacked him. He received serious injuries and died on the spot.

Retired from a private job, Madaiah had come from Bengaluru recently to his village to construct a house and got killed by the elephant. An alert has been issued to the local people on the movement of elephants in the area, a senior forest officer said.

"We received information that a man died following an elephant attack in Srimangala Wildlife range of Madikeri Wildlife division here. Our forest department officers and police rushed to the spot to access the situation," he said.

The post-mortem has been done and compensation amount of Rs 15 lakh has also been given to the man's family, he added.

"Immediate steps have been taken to ensure the safety of people in the region and the elephant involved in the attack is being tracked," the officer said.

Following the incident, fear has gripped among the local residents who have expressed their anguish over the rise in the elephant menace.

They also staged a protest demanding intensive patrolling and more field staff to be deployed by the forest department in the area to avoid human-animal conflict in the future.

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