Elephant chases 3 forest guards, tramples one to death

A forest guard was attacked and trampled to death by a wild elephant near Bhavanisagar in Erode district while two of his colleagues managed to flee to safety, wildlife officials have said

Mahendran (48), along with two of his colleagues, went into the forest area on Monday evening to install cameras to watch movement of wild animals when the elephant emerged from the bushes and chased the three, the officials said.

The 48-year-old forest guard was killed and his co- workers managed to escape from the elephant which later vanished into the thickets, they said.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old woman and her relative on a motorcycle were returning home at Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district from Chamrajnagar in Karnataka when they found two elephants and a calf standing across the road near Sathyamangalam.

Fearing an imminent attack, the riders abandoned the vehicle and ran for their lives, they said.

In another incident, the forest department personnel placed a cage near Thalawady under the Sathyamangalam forest reserve to trap a leopard reportedly on the prowl in the area.

Some days ago, the big cat entered a farmhouse and killed a goat there. The owner of the house informed the forest officials about the leopard and they visited the scene.

They found pugmarks and later set up a cage to trap the animal before telling people on the forest fringes not to venture out at night.