Rogue tusker caught near Dharmapuri released in MTR

Udhagamandalam: The rogue tusker, which was captured near Dharmapuri, was released deep inside Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris in the early hours of Thursday.
Aged around 15 years, the tusker had created tension in Neruppur area near Pennagaram in Dharumapuri for the past 15 days by raiding crops and entering close to human habitats.
The forest department had initially attempted to chase the tusker away into forest area, but in vain.Subsequently, foresters tranquilized and captured the elephant on Wednesday. Later, it was taken to the MTR in a truck.
L C S Srikanth, deputy director, MTR-buffer zone, confirmed that the tusker was released in Asuvaramattam area on Thursday early morning. “The tusker seems to be docile. A special team has been formed to monitor the animal’s movement. Hopefully, the pachyderm would not have any problem in the new place. Recently, we had created a forest pond, which has a capacity to store 50,000 litres water, near Asuvaramattam with solar energized bore well motor.”
Residents of Masinagudi and Vazhaithottam areas are, however, not happy with the forest department’s move of translocating the tusker to the MTR.
A resident of Gudalur area said, “Already, there is a growing man-elephant conflict in Gudalur range. Leaving a rogue elephant in the MTR is a cause for concern for us all.”
It is to be noted that the MTR buffer zone is tucked in between Gudalur forest division and Masinagudi area and the tusker could stray into both the places.