Elephant calf killed in train collision near Walayar

A tragic incident was reported from Kerala’s Palakkad district early Tuesday morning after a baby elephant was killed when a herd was hit by a train while crossing railway tracks near the forest area.
The incident occurred around 4 a.m. in the Vattapparai area of Valayar, when an Ernakulam–Yesvantpur train struck the herd as it was moving across the tracks. While other elephants managed to escape, the calf was run over and died on the spot, forest officials said.
The accident has once again highlighted the growing threat to wildlife along railway corridors passing through forest regions. Local residents and wildlife activists expressed anger over what they described as the lack of preventive measures along the Palakkad forest stretch.
They pointed out that artificial intelligence–based camera systems have already been installed along the railway tracks in the Navakkarai–Walayar section in neighbouring Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district. These systems help monitor elephant movement in real time and alert railway authorities, significantly reducing train–elephant collisions.
Residents alleged that despite repeated incidents in the Valayar–Palakkad region, similar monitoring mechanisms have not been implemented by the Kerala government or the forest department along the railway tracks bordering the Palakkad forest area.
They demanded immediate installation of surveillance systems, speed restrictions for trains during night hours and coordinated action between railway and forest officials to prevent further loss of wildlife.