A female elephant was shot dead in Mettupalayam by farmers who were enraged by wild elephants that are destroying their crops.
Coimbatore: A female elephant was shot dead in Mettupalayam by farmers who were enraged by wild elephants that are destroying their crops.
Wild elephants from the Nellimalai Forests near Mettupalayam often enter into the villages on the foothills of the mountains and trespass into the agricultural fields.
This being the case, a wild female elephant was spotted dead on an agricultural plot near Thekkampatti. The carcass was found lying in the fields of Ramasamy with blood flowing out of its ears. This led to the suspicion that the elephant did not die a natural death.
Investigations were conducted by the forest department to understand if somebody attacked the elephant. Veterinarians were summoned from Coimbatore and an autopsy was conducted on the dead elephant.
The postmortem revealed the shocking information that the elephant had died due to a gunshot and the bullet had pierced its brains. Aluminium pellets used in country-made guns were found lodged in the head of the deceased pachyderm.
Following investigations, the owner of the field Ramasamy and his brother Krishnasamy have been arrested. The brothers said they shot the elephant as their crops are being destroyed by the jumbos that often stray into their field.
The inhuman incident act of shooting an elephant to death to protect the crops has shocked wildlife activists in general and the people in and around Mettupalayam.