Tamil Nadu: Young wildlife research scholar killed by elephant on Sacon campus

A research scholar died on Wednesday (May 17), after he succumbed to injuries he had suffered when a wild elephant trampled him at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (Sacon) campus at Anaikatti Reserve Forest near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

The incident happened late on Tuesday and the research scholar, Vishal Shrimal (23), was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore, where his condition remained critical after he had been attacked by the wild elephant. He had suffered injuries on his chest and right leg. However, he died without responding to treatment in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

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The forest department said a lone elephant attacked Vishal Shrimal when he was walking on the campus of the premier research institute around 8.30 pm on Tuesday. The Sacon campus is situated inside the Anaikatti south reserve forest, which comes under the Thudiyalur section of the Coimbatore forest range.

Vishal Shrimal is originally from Rajasthan and had been pursuing an MSc in wildlife science at the University of Kota, Rajasthan. He was to be in the institute for three months for his dissertation work.