Three Wild Elephants Mowed Down By Speeding Truck In Andhra Pradesh

In a tragic incident, three elephants were killed when a speeding lorry hit them in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.

The accident occurred at Jagamarla cross near Palamaner on the Bengaluru-Chennai National Highway (NH 4) in Chittoor district on Wednesday night when a herd of four wild elephants was crossing the road.

BCCL

Driver flees after accident

The herd consisted of four elephants, one female adult, two male sub-adults and a female calf. Except for the adult, which managed to escape, the other three elephants died in the accident.

"A lorry hit the elephant herd crossing the highway. The vehicle was being driven at a high speed and the driver is suspected to have been in an inebriated state and escaped from the spot," Chittoor divisional forest officer (DFO) Chaitanya Kumar Reddy told PTI.

Three #elephants die as lorry hits them in Andhra Pradesh#AndhraPradesh @moefcc #Forest #Chittoor #Palamaner pic.twitter.com/VfsFwUcmM8

¡ª Sharon Thambala (@SharonThambala) June 15, 2023

A case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act against the truck driver who is absconding.

Four elephants electrocuted in May

The deaths come a little over a month after four wild elephants were electrocuted in Andhra Pradesh's Parvathipuram-Manyam district.

A herd of six elephants, two males and four females, had entered the Katragadda village under Bhamini Mandal near the state's border with Odisha on May 11.

While four of them died of electrocution from a transformer, the remaining two who were also injured withdrew into the forest.

SCREENGRAB

The elephant herd is said to have recently entered the area from neighbouring Odisha.

Andhra Pradesh doesn't have a sizable elephant population, but in the past few decades, the state's border regions have seen frequent raids by jumbo herds migrating from Odisha, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu in search of food.

This has resulted in the elephants often raiding agricultural fields and increasing human-animal conflict.

In April, three cows were killed, and a car was crushed by an elephant in Bandavalasa village of Komarada Mandal Parvathipuram-Manyam district.

Elephant herd enter Andhra village

Earlier this week too, another herd of elephants was seen in Pujariguda village in Parvathipuram Manyam.

Visuals shot by locals showed tuskers drinking water stored in two buckets by the villagers. An elephant is also seen going to a makeshift container on the edge of a village road.

#WATCH | Andhra Pradesh: A herd of 7 elephants entered Pujariguda village in Parvathipuram district, for drinking water. pic.twitter.com/5jfdtp0MI2

¡ª ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2023

A group of seven elephants, including a baby elephant, reached the village on Wednesday morning. Villagers tried to shoo them away, but the elephants entered the village.

Locals said that the presence of a herd of elephants also created a panic, and people rushed inside their houses.

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