A 17-year-old student returning home from college was trampled to death by a wild elephant in southern India, sparking massive protests as residents demanded action over mounting human-wildlife conflicts that have claimed hundreds of lives in recent years.
Pooja, a first-year pre-university student at St. Michael’s Composite PU College in Madikeri, had just stepped off a bus near her home in Bettathuru village in Karnataka’s Kodagu district when the elephant charged from behind at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 28.
The attack unfolded with horrifying speed. Pooja’s mother, Devaki, heard her daughter’s screams and rushed toward her, but the assault was over in seconds. Her father, Changappa (also referred to as Girish in some reports), had stepped away briefly to ride his motorcycle to a pickup point. When he returned, he discovered his daughter lying in a pool of blood, her body grievously injured from the elephant’s charge.
Pooja was rushed to Government Hospital in Madikeri, where medical staff could do nothing to save her. A postmortem examination was later conducted at the facility. The sudden loss of the teenager devastated the tight-knit community and ignited fury over what residents view as government negligence in addressing escalating wildlife attacks.
The tragedy triggered immediate action from grief-stricken villagers. On Sunday, residents joined forces with farmer organizations and workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party to block National Highway 275 for over two hours. The protest brought traffic to a standstill for kilometers along the Mysuru-Bantwal stretch as demonstrators demanded urgent government intervention to prevent future deaths.
Madikeri Deputy Conservator of Forests Abhishek visited Pooja’s family at the hospital and assured them that authorities would attempt to capture the elephant responsible for the fatal attack. “The Rapid Response Team has rushed to the spot and efforts are underway to drive the elephant back into the forest,” he told local media. The Karnataka government subsequently announced compensation of Rs 20 lakh, approximately $22,000, for the bereaved family.
The incident underscores a persistent and deadly problem in Karnataka. Forest department data reveals that wild animals have killed 254 people across the state over the past five years, with 42 deaths occurring in 2024-25 alone. Approximately 70 percent of these fatalities resulted from attacks by elephants, tigers, and leopards—species whose habitats increasingly overlap with expanding villages, farmlands, and infrastructure.
The Kodagu district sits at the forested tri-junction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala states, where traditional elephant migration corridors increasingly intersect with human settlements. Villagers reported that in the second week of February, a youth returning from work at a resort was seriously injured in a similar elephant attack on the same road—and had narrowly escaped death. This overlap of human and wildlife territories has intensified dangerous encounters, placing students, farmers, and daily wage workers at particular risk.
Human-wildlife conflict extends far beyond Karnataka’s borders. In early January, a lone male elephant terrorized the eastern state of Jharkhand, killing at least 22 people over approximately ten days in the forested West Singhbhum district before eluding capture. The attacks, which began on January 1 in the Chaibasa and Kolhan areas of the Saranda forest belt—one of Asia’s largest sal forests—primarily targeted villagers guarding crops near forest fringes at night.
Official data highlights the scale of the crisis. Jharkhand has recorded around 1,270 human deaths in elephant attacks over the past 18 years, while nearly 150 elephants have also died in conflict-related incidents—establishing it as one of India’s most dangerous states for human-elephant conflict.
The wildlife crisis coincides with concerning population trends for India’s elephants. In October 2025, a groundbreaking DNA-based census conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India estimated the country’s wild elephant population at 22,446. This figure represents a decline from 27,312 in 2017, though researchers note the new methodology means the results “are not directly comparable to past figures” and should be treated as a new baseline for monitoring.
Residents of Bettathuru and surrounding villages have repeatedly warned authorities about increasing elephant movement near human habitation, but locals claim officials only respond after fatalities occur rather than implementing preventive measures. Community leaders are demanding intensified patrolling, installation of physical barriers, deployment of elephant tracking technology, improved early warning systems, and better coordination between departments.
The loss of Pooja has particularly shaken the community. Neighbors described her as a bright, soft-spoken student with aspirations of continuing her education. She had just completed her annual examinations on February 19 and had been staying with her mother, who works as a cook at a nearby ashram school. Her death marks another young life cut short in the ongoing struggle between wildlife conservation and human safety.
Forest Department officials stated they are monitoring elephant movement in the region and have initiated measures to drive animals back into forest areas. They assured that necessary assistance would be provided to the victim’s family according to government norms.
As Bettathuru mourns, the incident has renewed urgent calls for a balanced approach that protects both India’s endangered wildlife and the vulnerable communities living at the edges of their habitat. Residents hope that concrete and sustained action will finally emerge to prevent similar tragedies, sparing other families from the devastation that has shattered Pooja’s loved ones.