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4 deaths in 48 hours as Kerala grapples with spate of elephant attacks

In the latest incident, the body of Balan, 27, was found trampled at Attamala, one of the landslide-ravaged villages in Wayanad. The incident happened at night while Balan, a tribal man, was returning home after buying provisions.

According to data from the forest department, 192 people have been killed and 216 seriously injured in Kerala from wild elephant attacks since 2016. Districts such as Malappuram, Wayanad and Idukki have the highest casualties.(Express Archives)

One more person was killed in an elephant attack in Kerala’s Wayanad Wednesday, bringing the total number of such deaths in the state in the last 48 hours to four. This comes at a time when the Kerala government is pushing for amendments to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, to deal with escalating man-animal conflict in the region.

In the latest incident, the body of Balan, 27, was found trampled at Attamala, one of the landslide-ravaged villages in Wayanad. The incident happened at night while Balan, a tribal man, was returning home after buying provisions.

A search party that went looking for him found his body at a tea estate at Attamala.

Significantly, man-animal conflict in the region has escalated since the landslide last July, with the state’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) as well as Opposition Congress seeking amendments to laws to deal with wildlife that pose danger to humans.

On Monday night, another tribal youth was killed in an elephant attack at Noolpuzha in Wayanad while two other deaths were reported in Thiruvananthapuram rural and Idukki districts.

Meanwhile, six lives have been lost in tiger attacks since 2016, of which five were in Wayanad.

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