The Forest Department staff, on Wednesday, captured a wild elephant with the help of tamed elephants at an estate near Udevara in Sakleshpur taluk. The elephant captured is said to be the makna, a male with no tusks, which roamed around villages around Udevara for the last couple of days, causing trouble to the public.
The forest officials in Hassan had taken clearance to capture two tuskers and two female elephants and release them after fixing radio collars, with which their movements could be tracked. The department made preparations for the operation in the last two days and got into action on Wednesday.
A team of the ground staff located the whereabouts of the wild elephant and captured it after tranquillizing it. With the help of the tamed elephants, it was put into a truck. The staff would make efforts to capture two female elephants, leading two herds, and a tusker, causing trouble in the area. The female elephants would be released in the same place after radio-collaring them.
Damage
The residents of Kesaguli near Udevara were in shock on Tuesday night as an elephant attempted to enter the house belonging to Girish, a farmer. The elephant broke the front door and damaged a wall, even as the residents watched the animal from the window. The same elephant damaged a shed belonging to another farmer in the same place. Video clips of the elephant trying to enter the residences have been doing the rounds in the district.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (Hassan) K.N. Basavaraj told The Hindu that the makna, which had been identified by local people as “Old Makna”, had been captured. It would be released in a wildlife sanctuary after installing a radio collar. “The elephant had been causing problems for the last few days. Besides this, we will capture a tusker, which would be translocated with a radio collar. We will capture two female elephants and release them here itself after installing radio collars,” he said.
