TIRUPATI: A herd of wild elephants on Tuesday wreaked havoc at a village where a 25-year-old male pachyderm had died of electrocution on Sunday, and destroyed acres of paddy cultivation.
The wild elephants strayed into the farmlands on the outskirts of Mogilivaripalli in Bangarupalem mandal, under the West forest range of Chittoor district.
On Sunday, the elephant had come in contact with a low-hanging electric line when it was crossing the field at about 11.30 pm. The forest official conducted a post-mortem and buried the carcass in the woods near the village on Monday.
A herd of wild elephants on Tuesday entered farmlands apparently in search of the carcass of the elephant. They destroyed the fields after they didn’t find the carcass, the villagers said. They also said that acres of paddy cultivation were destroyed by the elephants.
On learning about the incident, forest officials rushed to the spot and managed to drive away the elephants. Farmers said they had incurred huge losses due to the elephant menace which has become a regular feature.
