BAHRAICH A 60-year-old man, identified as Radhe Shyam, was trampled to death by an elephant in the district’s Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) area late on Tuesday night, said police. The victim, a resident of Biharipurwa village, was attacked near the Saryu canal around 9:30 pm, said forest officials.
This is the second human death in a human-elephant conflict incident in the region within 10 days. Earlier, on January 10, 32-year-old Suresh was also killed in an elephant attack in Verdiya village, located close to the sanctuary.
On being asked about the incident, Akashdeep Badhawan, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of KWS, said, “We are making all possible efforts to restrict the movement of elephants in the villages adjacent to the sanctuary. The family of the victim will be provided with immediate financial assistance.”
He added, “The forest department has been organising sensitisation programmes to help villagers avoid such attacks. While solar lights have been installed at several spots, villagers are also being provided with solar torches as animals like tigers and leopards usually hide and then attack their prey. Further, traffic movement on the road leading to the sanctuary area is now being contained. Movement on the road would be restricted without permission.”
In addition, specialists in elephant-human conflicts from Kolkata-based NGO have been called to drive away wild elephants from residential areas. Also, Gajmitras are to be deployed in the affected region. “The department, in consultation with experts, would finalise a strategy to keep wild elephants within the sanctuary area,” added the DFO.
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