Man dies in elephant attack in Kerala's Wayanad: 3rd death in 17 days

Wayanad: Following a fresh wild elephant attack in Kerala's Wayanad on Friday morning, a man who got injured succumbed to injuries at the Kozhikode Medical College, PTI reported.

LDF and UDF have called for a hartal on Saturday, demanding an immediate solution to the loss of lives in wild elephant attacks attacks.

The person who died on Friday was an eco-tourism guide of the Forest department and was stationed at Kuruva Island here, which is a well-known tourist destination, a Forest official said.

He encountered the elephant while stationed near the Eco-Tourism centre to turn away people from the area due to the ongoing operation to capture the jumbo, which had trampled to death another man last Saturday, the official said.

The elephant stomped on the guide, causing serious injuries to his rib cage and back. He was then shifted to Kozhikode Medical College, where he died, the official added.

The UDF called for the hartal in Wayanad district on Saturday against the serious negligence of the government and the forest department in the wake of the loss of two human lives in a wild cat attack in Wayanad within a week. The hartal is from 6 am to 6 pm.

The LDF hartal is to demand that the central and state governments should intervene urgently to find a permanent solution to the problem of wild animals. It points out that three people were killed in wild animal attacks in 17 days.

The attack occurred a day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a meeting with people's representatives from the hilly district and issued a slew of directions to prevent human-animal encounters there.

Last week, a 42-year-old man was trampled to death by a radio-collared elephant in the Mananthavady area of the district.

The elephant, which had strayed into the inhabited areas of the district, was radio-collared in Karnataka.

The jumbo is yet to be caught despite the Forest Department pressing into service several Rapid Response Teams (RRTs), kumki elephants and even a thermal camera to detect the pachyderm in the dense forests in the area.