Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady

Beltangady, Jan 31: The menace of wild elephants continued in Belthangady taluk, with herds causing damage to banana plantations in Shibaje and Didupe areas on the night of January 29.

According to locals, wild elephants raided the plantation belonging to Raghavendra Abhyankar of Shibaje Pattimaru, destroying several banana plants. In the Nandikadu and Malla areas of Didupe, the movement of three wild elephants was reported. The elephants reportedly entered the plantation of Satish Kodange Gadde and damaged more than 25 banana plants.

Residents further said that a wild elephant also wandered close to the house of local resident Malla Ramanna Gowda and entered a pond meant for household use, muddying the water.

Meanwhile, incidents of leopard movement have also continued to cause fear in the taluk. On Friday, a leopard was sighted in a paddy field belonging to Ramanand Sharma at Bandral in Guripalla area of Kanyadi-1 village, under Nadda gram panchayat limits.

The leopard was noticed by a woman from the household who had gone to pluck flowers. On spotting the animal in the middle of the field, she ran back home in panic, after which the leopard reportedly fled towards the forest area. Forest department personnel later visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

In another incident, a leopard is said to have killed a goat at Poyyagudde in Padangadi village at around 4 am on Friday. Last week, a leopard had attacked Manjappa Naik at Andirmar, while three days ago another leopard was trapped in a forest department cage at Kayyangu area. Locals have also reported a leopard sighting near a milk transport vehicle in the same region.