Thrissur: Giving a tough time to forest officials and workers, a herd of over 40 wild elephants have been camping in a rubber estate at Palappilly in Thrissur district of Kerala for the past few days.
Forest officials on Tuesday said the elephant herd, also comprising calves, uprooted and knocked down many rubber trees as they roamed around the estate.
Forest officials have advised the rubber tappers not to come to the plantation early in the morning for work.
The workers have also been advised to come as a group or else they will be in danger, the officials said. Usually, the workers start tapping work at 3am.
Estate workers said the elephants used to come during the day time and go back to the forest in the evening but this time around they refused to go back.
Elephants have been camping in the rubber estate for the past few days, causing widespread damages to the properties by uprooting trees, they said.
The forest department officials tried bursting crackers to chase the elephants away from the plantation. However, it has not succeeded so far. It is being said that the animals have come to the plantation in search of water.
(With inputs from PTI)
