A 65-year-old man was injured when Forest Department officials were attempting to chase a wild tusker that had entered Coimbatore city back into the forest on Sunday, March 17. The injured man was identified as Maruthamuthu. According to reports, around 30 elephants have come down from the mountains and settled near the Coimbatore Wildlife Conservation Trust, Marudhamalai Road. One of the elephants wandered into the city’s Perur neighbourhood earlier on March 17, leading to panic.

Forest Department officials had earlier told media that they would wait until evening to try and chase the elephant back. The move, the officials said, was to ensure that the elephant does not run into day-time traffic or cause any other havoc in fear. As planned, officials issued warnings in the neighbourhoods that the elephant was being chased through. However, when the elephant was crossing Siruvani main road it attacked Maruthamuthu, who sustained injuries to his back. Maruthamuthu was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital in a Forest Department vehicle, officials said.

Earlier in the day, the tusker had broken down the door of a home in Karadimadai and fed on their store of rice grains. Just three days ago, incidents of three people being attacked by a tusker in the same area was reported.

Due to droughts in the Western Ghats, elephants have been migrating closer to settlements and repeatedly entering various villages in search of food. On March 8, a wild elephant in the Kanniyakumari forest area trampled a 35-year-old man to death. Last month, a tusker killed two women in two separate incidents in Krishnagiri district.