Elephants seen near a school in Sullia

Elephants seen near a school in Sullia

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Jan 22, 2016 :  According to B.S. Kempalingappa, Sullia Block Education Officer,  few elephants was seen near a government school at Shirlaya near Aranthodu village in Sullia on Jan 20, Wednesday. Students waiting at a bus stop near the school ran helter skelter in fear.

The elephants were noticed by students of Government Higher Primary School who came to the school around 7 a.m. These elephants were seen roaming around in a nearby field. It was around the same time that a group of students was waiting for a bus at the bus stop near the school. The presence of the elephants made the  group of students to flee from the bus stop.  Meanwhile, the elephants brought down a coconut tree in the field nearby, he said.

BEO  Kempalingappa said that the school functioned as usual though. The same evening, the Forest Department officials took action to drive away the pachyderms. The elephants were not seen in the area since then. Three days ago, the elephants were seen in Arasinamakki, Kokrady, Rekya, Shishila and Shibaje villages in Belthangady taluk. These elephants could be the same noticed at Shirlaya probably from the forests near Sullia and Subrahmanya.

Chief Conservator Forests, Mangaluru Division, Sanjay Bijoor said that it was normal to see elephants moving in these areas during this period. “The increase in people movement led to the sighting of the pachyderms,” he said. These elephants have been coming to these villages from the forests in Madikeri and Kerala. “Disturbances in the forest area in Madikeri and Kerala are leading elephants to this region in search of food and water.  The forest officials are trying to drive the pachyderms back to the forests by bursting crackers, if the animals are found to be staying in human habitation for more than two days.