A herd of wild elephants unleashed destruction on agricultural land in Kodagu district, causing significant financial loss and heightening fear among local residents. The incident occurred on Sunday night along Pollibetta Road in the Siddapur area.
Plantation Owner Suffers Major Losses
The elephants targeted the coffee estate belonging to Devanira Vajra Bopanna, who is also the president of the Siddapur unit of the Karnataka State Farmers' Association. The herd, which included a calf, entered the property and went on a rampage. They extensively damaged valuable arecanut trees and coffee plants.
Bopanna estimated the financial damage to be in the lakhs of rupees. Following the devastating event, he filed an official complaint with the forest department. Expressing his ongoing distress, Bopanna stated that the constant threat of wild elephants in the region has left him and others in a state of perpetual fear.
Menace Spreads to Nearby Village
Meanwhile, the problem of elephant intrusions is intensifying in other parts of Kodagu. In Vayakol village, under the Kakkabe-Kunjila gram panchayat, a wild elephant entered the premises of a house owned by resident Ahmed Haji at midnight. The animal damaged the perimeter wall of the property, an act that has spread considerable anxiety throughout the village community.
Harvest Season Anxiety Grips Labourers
The timing of these incidents is particularly alarming for the local economy. Coffee harvesting has already commenced in Kodagu, a major coffee-producing region. However, the escalating elephant menace is creating a serious secondary crisis: labourers are now too afraid to venture into the estates for work. This fear threatens to disrupt the crucial harvest season, potentially leading to further economic losses for plantation owners.
The back-to-back incidents highlight the growing human-elephant conflict in the region. They underscore the urgent need for effective mitigation strategies to protect both the livelihoods of farmers and the wildlife, ensuring the safety of all.
