No letup in wild elephant menace in Dhoni; herd strays into village

Palakkad: The village of Dhoni on the forest fringes of Kerala's Palakkad district has been targeted again by wild elephants, weeks after a major operation to capture a rogue one. A herd has damaged crops at Perunthuruthikkalam area and has been staying put near houses since last midnight.

There was no response from the Rapid Response Team (RRT) of the Forest Department even after alerting it, complained several local residents.

"We tried to call the RRT many times but in vain. Later, we resorted to scaring the elephants, as we usually do, by making noise in a bid to guide the herd back into the wilds," a local said.

However, the elephants, which now know the country roads better than the wilds, were not ready to return at all.

The villagers also stayed awake waiting for the elephant herd to leave. The herd which had reached around 1 am in the inhabited area was not ready to go back even after 3 am on Friday.

The elephants completely uprooted coconut trees, palm trees, arecanut palms and damaged plantains in Perunthuruthikkalam and Mele Dhoni areas. This is the third time that the same herd has been straying into the inhabited areas in Dhoni within one week.

"These elephants too behave like the tusker PT-7 and do not return to the wilds even if firecrackers are burst," villagers said.

PT-7 was captured last month by the RRT and has been renamed Dhoni.

Many families, meanwhile, live in fear as other wild elephants continue to be a threat in Dhoni.