Chikkamagaluru: After a gap of five months, yet another wild elephant has been spotted in the villages of Kanur and Sankse gram panchayats in Narasimharaja taluk.The last time around, in Oct 2025, a tusker nicknamed ‘Gundavani Gunda’ was rescued from Gundavani. According to foresters and villagers, in the current situation, the wild jumbo has raided crops and has turned out to be more aggressive than Gundavani. Villagers have urged foresters to drive away the tusker. To compound the worries for villagers, the road between Guddehalla and Dhavana has no public transport, forcing several students from Satvani and Gunduvani to walk for nearly 4 km to reach the nearest bus stop. Although forest department staff have tried to monitor the movements of the jumbo, lack of facilities has often put paid to their efforts. The villagers also suspect that Gundavani Gunda may have returned to the area. A college student complained: “I attended extra classes in the evening but couldn’t do so over the last few days due to the elephant.” “Nearly 80 fully grown areca plants were damaged in one night,” said Krishnappa, who owns one acre. Officials from the forest department drove the tusker away before it could do more harm.
