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Grieving mother jumbo tramples man

Mother elephant tramples a man to death who tried to take pictures on his phone.

Coimbatore: In a poignant show of maternal love, a ‘grieving’ mother elephant has been refusing to leave its calf that is lying dead on a private farm in at Periyananickenpalayam in Coimbatore despite several attempts by the Forest department to chase it away.

The distraught mother elephant trampled to death a 46-year-old man who tried to get close to the calf to take pictures on his mobile phone.

In a moving show of affection, the mother elephant is lying close to the dead calf, forest officials said.

“ Of the three elephants, that stood ‘guarding’ the dead calf, we managed to drive away two, but a female elephant still refuses to retreat into the forest and is staying put at the same spot since morning.

The female elephant goes and lies down close to the dead calf,” said Forest Ranger M Nazir.

The Forest personnel have been bursting crackers intermittently but the mother elephant refuses to stir out.

“We tried to chase away the animal into the forest cover by bursting crackers and deploying an earth mover, but the pachyderm gets aggressive and makes a charge on those involved in the driving operation,” said DFO Senthil Kumar.

Just as forest personnel were engaged in intensive chasing operation, the elephant got aggressive.

An ambulance driver at a private hospital, Ranga­raj ignored the warnings of the forest department staff and went near the elephant to a photograph the calf on his mobile phone. The mother elephant charged and trampled him to death around 4.15 pm.

“We managed to take his body only after an hour long struggle,” said DFO M Senthil Kumar.

The deceased Rangarajan’s son, a college student, died in a road accident two months ago and the family members donated his organs. The body of Rangarajan has been sent for post mortem at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital.

He is the 18th victim of elephant attack over the last 13 months in Coimbatore district.

Meanwhile, as dusk fell, forest officials suspended the chasing operation. “We have now suspended the driving operations and will resume again at night.

“The pachyderm needs to be pushed into the forest to avoid further tension and also to retrieve the body of the calf to carry out an autopsy and ascertain the reason for its death,” said Senthil Kumar.

( Source : dc )
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