Fear of lone elephant grips villagers near Puttur

The pachyderm has been raiding mango orchards and vegetable plantations

A full-grown male elephant, which got separated from the three-member “bachelor’s group” last month, has been creating a flutter, raiding mango orchards and vegetable plantations in several villages alongside the Chennai National Highway in Narayanavanam mandal, 80 km from here. According to information, the lone elephant, which is currently on the prowl between Govindappa Naidu Kandriga village and the waterfalls at Kailasanatha Kona, is frequenting the mango orchards. From Friday night till early hours of Saturday, the pachyderm had a free run in the fields, and reportedly tried to attack a farmer, who luckily escaped. The villagers say the presence of a wild elephant was a strange in Narayanavanam mandal as the terrain’s poor forest cover would not support the fodder for the animal.