After a tip-off by villagers, the police, along with Forest Department officials, rushed to the scene of the accident.
Published May 12, 2023 | 8:14 PM ⚊ Updated May 12, 2023 | 8:14 PM
Four elephants are suspected to have been electrocuted in Andhra Pradesh. Representational image. (iStock)
In a depressing development, four elephants were electrocuted to death in Katragadda village in Bhamini mandal of Parvathipuram-Manyam district, Andhra Pradesh, in the wee hours of Friday, 12 May.
The villagers assume that the four pachyderms may have strayed very close to an electric transformer, causing them to be electrocuted.
After a tip-off by the villagers, the police, along with forest department officials, rushed to the spot and surveyed the scene of the accident.
They found four dead tuskers, lying very close to the transformer which had no protection wall. Two more elephants are suspected to have fled to Thummakonda in fear. Of the four elephants that died, one was a male and three were females.
The officials suspect that the dead elephants were part of a pack of six tuskers which strayed into the Parvathipuram-Manyam district from neighbouring Odisha state.
The officials believe there are 10 more tuskers left in the wilderness and assured that steps would be taken to protect them.
With the death of the four elephants, the demand for setting up rehabilitation centres for elephants has become shriller now.
With summer becoming severe, the elephants are making a foray into human civilisation for water, the forest officials surmise.
The officials have cautioned the people in the area not to go towards Thummakonda, where the surviving two elephants are suspected to be moving to now, as they might attack them.
