Wild elephant feeds on plastic sack rice near Coimbatore

Wild elephant damages grocery store in Coimbatore village, prompting increased patrols to prevent further incidents.

A wild elephant ventured into a village near Coimbatore on Wednesday night, causing damage to a local grocery store. The elephant pulled out a bag of rice and fed on both the rice and the plastic bag. A video of the incident was widely shared on social media.

According to the Forest Department, the lone tusker entered Semmedu village near Thondamuthur, and is one of two tuskers known to frequently visit Semmedu and the nearby Narasipuram area. Villagers captured footage of the tusker removing a bag of rice from the shop, breaking it open, and feeding on the rice.

In response to the damages caused by these two tuskers, farmers and residents of Semmedu and Narasipuram had recently staged a protest outside the local Forest Department staff quarters. Boluvampatti Forest Range Officer T. Suseendranath confirmed that two teams had been conducting night patrols to drive out wild elephants entering the villages. Following the incident on Wednesday night, an additional team has been deployed, with three teams now conducting night patrols from Thursday onwards.