The State government has agreed to compensate the family of a man who was trampled to death by an elephant in Wayanad district of Kerala recently.
This follows an appeal by the Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Eshwar B. Khandre to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah consequent to a request by the Kerala government.
Tracing the sequence of events, a circular from the Minister’s office said a tuskless male (Makana) elephant involved in the trampling incident, was earlier captured in Belur taluk of Hassan district on November 30, 2023 and translocated to Bandipur forest area.
After more than two months it was found that it had strayed into Wayanad district of Kerala. But on February 10, one Ajeesh of Chatigadha, Begur, in Wayanad district of Kerala was killed in the elephant attack involving the translocated male, as per the communique.
Elected representatives and the Kerala government requested Karnataka to be “large hearted” and pay compensation for that case.
Following this, Mr. Khandre took up the matter of payment of compensation with Mr. Siddaramaiah on Sunday and the latter agreed to pay compensation to the family of Ajeesh on a par with any citizen of Karnataka, the communique added.
Incidentally, the Minister had decried the labelling of the elephant after the incident as “Karnataka elephant” in a bid to shift the blame on Karnataka.
The Minister and the officials had stated that wildlife had no boundaries and it was a travesty to suggest that a particular animal belonged to a particular State. especially when the forests were contiguous and spanned across Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
