Elephant tramples to death tourist couple from Gujarat
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A tourist couple from Ahmedabad was trampled to death by a wild elephant while on a trekking session in Gavi in Pathanamthitta district on Wednesday morning.
Bhupendra Raval (52), who works as a general manager in a private firm and his wife Jagruthy Raval (50), an Isro scientist, were on a two-hour trekking trip, accompanied by a guide, and organized by the state forest department.
Another guide who was 300 metres away from the incident said there was a loud shriek from the middle of the cardamom plantation [part of the trekking path] and when he rushed to the spot the elephant had already mauled the middle-aged couple and injured the guide who had accompanied them.
"The couple did not have time to move from the elephant's path as it ran straight into them in a mad frenzy,'' said a forest official.
In October last year, Dipali, a 27-year-old woman, who was part of a tourist group, was trampled to death by a captive elephant at Iruttukanam near Munnar in Idukki district.
Gavi is an integral part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Although this is for the first time such a gruesome incident has occurred in this area, it is a fact that trekking into the buffer zones of the Tiger Reserve poses a huge risk to life as elephants routinely stray into these areas.
In the last two years 19 people, including seven women, a majority of them tribals, were mauled to death by wild elephants in the reserve forests of Kerala.
During peak tourist season over 1,000 visitors reach Gavi every day putting great strain on the rich wildlife habitat of the area.
The Periyar Tiger Reserve has a healthy elephant population which has been increasing due to conservation activities of the forest department but ironically the Kerala Forest Development Corporation wants to cash in on its huge tourist potential by pushing for one-day trekking expeditions which seem to have boomeranged on them.
The wildlife district forest officer, Ranni, in a letter last year had appealed for restricting the entry of tourists to Gavi.
"Trekking trails should be banned and people should be taken only for Safari rides in grilled vehicles. The elephants may turn violent especially if they are in musth,'' said V K Venkatchalam, secretary, Elephant Task Force, said.
Bhupendra Raval (52), who works as a general manager in a private firm and his wife Jagruthy Raval (50), an Isro scientist, were on a two-hour trekking trip, accompanied by a guide, and organized by the state forest department.
Another guide who was 300 metres away from the incident said there was a loud shriek from the middle of the cardamom plantation [part of the trekking path] and when he rushed to the spot the elephant had already mauled the middle-aged couple and injured the guide who had accompanied them.
"The couple did not have time to move from the elephant's path as it ran straight into them in a mad frenzy,'' said a forest official.
In October last year, Dipali, a 27-year-old woman, who was part of a tourist group, was trampled to death by a captive elephant at Iruttukanam near Munnar in Idukki district.
Gavi is an integral part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Although this is for the first time such a gruesome incident has occurred in this area, it is a fact that trekking into the buffer zones of the Tiger Reserve poses a huge risk to life as elephants routinely stray into these areas.
In the last two years 19 people, including seven women, a majority of them tribals, were mauled to death by wild elephants in the reserve forests of Kerala.
During peak tourist season over 1,000 visitors reach Gavi every day putting great strain on the rich wildlife habitat of the area.
The Periyar Tiger Reserve has a healthy elephant population which has been increasing due to conservation activities of the forest department but ironically the Kerala Forest Development Corporation wants to cash in on its huge tourist potential by pushing for one-day trekking expeditions which seem to have boomeranged on them.
The wildlife district forest officer, Ranni, in a letter last year had appealed for restricting the entry of tourists to Gavi.
"Trekking trails should be banned and people should be taken only for Safari rides in grilled vehicles. The elephants may turn violent especially if they are in musth,'' said V K Venkatchalam, secretary, Elephant Task Force, said.
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