idukki the increasing mananimal conflict in the district has made life miserable to the local residents in the past eight months four people were killed in wild elephant attacks in munnar and marayoor divisions while eight wild elephants including two calves lost their lives in the last four months even as the forest department is yet to chalk out a concrete strategy to prevent such incidents in futureas per records 33 people have been killed under munnar forest division since 2002 due to wild elephant attacks the forest department and the government should take immediate action to prevent wild elephant deaths munnar has largely changed in the past 30 years and various types of developmental activities are affecting the environment in the area said kerala forest research institutes former director essameanwhile the forest department is currently mooting a special rapid response team rrt in munnar with local support according to chief wildlife warden anil bharadwaj a team including munnar wildlife warden and dfo would study how to prevent wild elephant attacks especially in sinkukandam and other areas which were earlier the natural habitats of elephants the forest department also plans to hold an awareness programme for estate workers he saidbharadwaj cites loss of habitats as the reason for frequent wild animal attacks the forest in munnar now lacks continuity and such gaps affect the smooth passage of wild animals especially elephants that have a clearcut route map called anatharas or elephant paths to follow he points out