Now Reading: Wild elephant and calf killed by train near Walayar
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Wild elephant and calf killed by train near Walayar
A wild elephant and its calf were killed by the Mangaluru-Chennai Superfast Express near Puduppathy on the Walayar-Palakkad forest stretch early Thursday, The Hindu reports. The accident occurred around 12:30 a.m. on…
The Story in Brief
A wild elephant and its calf were killed by the Mangaluru-Chennai Superfast Express near Puduppathy on the Walayar-Palakkad forest stretch early Thursday, The Hindu reports. The accident occurred around 12:30 a.m. on the Tamil Nadu side of the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The elephants became trapped under the locomotive, disrupting train services for several hours.
Forest officials and police from the Walayar forest range led the operation to remove the carcasses. A veterinary team from Thrissur conducted a post-mortem. In February, another elephant was killed by a train on the same stretch. Trains on this route travel at reduced speeds at night to avoid wildlife.
The Indian Opinion
This is the second such death on this stretch in six months. The railways have reduced night speeds, but activists argue that is not enough, they demand underpasses, sensors and real-time alerts. Forest officials, however, note that the route cuts through an elephant corridor, a problem with no quick fix. The real test will be whether the planned track doubling includes wildlife mitigation measures. The number of such deaths in the coming year will tell.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
