A misadventure by a tourist who ventured dangerously close to a wild elephant in Bandipur ended with the pachyderm giving chase and attacking him, on Sunday.
The incident, captured on video and now viral on social media, has brought into focus the recurring problem of tourists disregarding safety advisories and venturing too close to wild animals in forest areas.
The Forest Department after an inquiry, established the identity of the person as R. Basavaraju, traced his address and tracked him to Nanjangud.
Basavaraju admitted to his misadventures, expressed regret and paid a penalty of â‚ą25,000 and in a video, released by the Forest Department, urged the public to desist from venturing close to wildlife.
The original video which went viral, showed an elephant on a busy highway when Basavaraju ventured too close, apparently to take a video or selfie, but ended up provoking the elephant into a charge.
He scampered for cover with the elephant in hot pursuit, the chase ending only after the former stumbled and fell. The elephant came close to stomping Basavaraju who was lying on the road but was distracted and raced towards the jungles.
Published – August 11, 2025 11:13 pm IST
