Wayanad, Feb 11 (IANS): Hours after Wayanad Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited families of the victims killed by animals in her constituency, a 45-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant.

Manu's wife is reported to be missing and the locals at Noolpuzha in Sultan Bathery in Wayanad district are up in arms demanding the presence of the district collector on the spot, saying only after that, will they allow his body to be taken to the hospital for post-mortem.

According to local Congress MLA I.C.Balakrishnan, Manu was attacked when he was returning from a shop and there are reports that one more person is understood to be injured.

The man-animal conflict has gripped the hilly district of Wayanad. On January 24, a woman, who was going to pluck coffee beans, was killed by a tiger.

Manu's death is the ninth one in the past decade in Wayanad. Incidentally, Priyanka on Monday had visited the kith and kin of three families in her constituency who had lost their lives in wild animal attacks.

Wayanad borders Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states and is surrounded by deep dense forests and is home to tigers, wild elephants and wild boars which have left the people especially those living near the forest areas in perennial fear.

When Priyanka called on the families of those killed by wild animals, their major demand was they wanted protection from such attacks while many of them demanded the construction of walls.

The Forest Department officials stated that a more practical approach would be digging fresh trenches to prevent the wild animals from entering human settlement areas.

The vexed issue of man-animal conflicts in Kerala continues to reverberate both in the Parliament and the Kerala Assembly. However, a solution continues to remain elusive and now with the peak summer season around the corner, the phenomenon of wild animals entering human settlements is expected to increase.