This is the second elephant to be captured in 24 hours

Mysore/Mysuru: A wild tusker, which had created panic in Mysuru surroundings was captured successfully by the Forest Department personnel yesterday and has been released in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve Forest.

This is one among the two wild elephants that had created panic in Mysuru surroundings and the second elephant to be captured in 24 hours.

Two wild tuskers had created panic among the villagers of Jayapura, Sheelanakere and other villages and had also destroyed standing crops. When the Forest staff tried to drive these tuskers back to the forest, they moved to Arabitittu forest in Hunsur Division and had destroyed fences of farmers and also of RMP and other industries.

As these tuskers were creating menace, the Forest Department senior officials had instructed the staff to capture these elephants which had stayed put in Arabitittu forest and release them into the forest

Following the instructions, the Forest staff on Dec. 30, began to prepare to conduct an operation to capture the two tuskers, when another elephant killed a woman at the nearby Chikkabeechanahalli. The Forest staff, who rushed to the spot (Chikkabeechanahalli) conducted an operation and captured the tusker.

Yesterday morning, an operation to capture the tuskers at Arabitittu began at about 4 pm and a tranquilliser dart was fired to one of the two tuskers. It was finally captured at about 5.30 pm with the help of tamed elephants Abhimanyu, Bheema, Mahendra, Prashanth and Ganesh.

The captured tusker, aged about 30 years was lifted with the help of a crane, loaded into a truck and was brought to Nagarahole, where it was released.

Conservator of Forests Dr. Malathi Priya, Hunsur Division DCF and Elephant Task Force In-charge P.A. Seema, ACFs, RFOs, DRFOs and other Forest staff were present.

DCF Seema said that out of the two tuskers, one of them has been captured and due to darkness, another tusker could not be caught. The operation to catch the other tusker will be taken up on Sunday, she added.

CF Dr. Malathi Priya said that the captured tusker is aged about 30 years and hence it was not radio collared. It has been released into the thick forest area in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. Another tusker would be captured and will be radio collared and its movements will be monitored.