Chamarajanagar: After their tiger scare, Chowdahalli and surrounding villages on the fringes of the Bandipur National Park are now living in fear of a rogue radio-collared tusker, believed to be from the neigbhouring Mudumalai sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, which attacked two men in Shivapura and Angala villages on Tuesday.
The tusker, which was sighted grazing in the fields of Shivapura village Tuesday morning , attacked and injured a villager, Siddaiah before the farmers arrived in large number and scared it away.
The elephant then fled to Angala village, where it injured a villager, Swami, who is in critical condition.
The tusker is believed to be from Mudumalai as the officials there have radio- collared elephants , according to a wildlife conservationist.
Bandipur National Park officials say they have sighted the elephant in a field near Angala village and are trying to tranquilise it.
The jumbo is said to have already trampled to death eight people and was radio-collared a month ago before it was released into the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve that shares a border with the Bandipur National Park.
According to conservationists, Tamil Nadu forest officials lost track of the tusker about a fortnight ago owing to weak battery cells in its radio collar.
Holding the veterinarians of Tamil Nadu, who assisted in radio-collaring the tusker, responsible for attacks on two farmers in Gundlupet , they claim some elephants have even dropped their radio collars in Tamil Nadu.
The villagers living on the fringes of the Bandipur National Park were recently stalked by a man-eating tiger, which was captured with much difficulty by forest
officials.
