Tribal man trampled to death by wild elephant near Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: A 67-year-old tribal man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the Periyanaickenpalayam forest range near Coimbatore on Tuesday evening.The victim, K Rangan, belonged to the irula community and was from the Kopanari tribal settlement. Forest officers said the incident took place in the Kopanari East beat of the Periyanaickenpalayam range around 5.30pm.Rangan had gone into the forest with his wife, Rangi, to graze their cattle when a wild elephant suddenly emerged from the thickets and attacked him. His wife escaped and alerted villagers, but Rangan was fatally gored and trampled.Forest department personnel rushed to the spot and conducted a preliminary inspection. Rangan was apparently caught off guard while tending to livestock inside the reserve forest area. Police were informed immediately. Forest department personnel, with police assistance, recovered the body and sent it to Mettupalayam Government Hospital for postmortem.The department issued a temporary advisory to residents of Kopanari and nearby settlements, asking them to avoid entering deep forest areas for grazing or collecting minor forest produce until the elephant’s movement is monitored. Patrolling has been intensified in the region to prevent further incidents.