A wild elephant was set on fire in Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri district.
The shocking incident took place at Shinkara near Masinagudi. The wild elephant strayed into a nearby resort. In order to scare the elephant away, one of the resort employees threw a burning tyre filled with petrol. The tyre got stuck to the elephant’s left ear. A video circulating on social media shows the elephant fleeing the spot and trumpeting in pain.
The elephant was later found near the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in a critical condition. The elephant died later. The post-mortem report revealed that the death had been caused by burns.
The forest department found the culprits after the footage of the attack on the elephant circulated in social media. Two resort employees have been taken into custody in the incident.
In the last one and a half years, 21 elephants have been killed or mauled in the Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts.