Wild tusker dies during capture operation in Kodagu: officials

Amid pressure from the villagers, the forest department launched a combing operation at Athur Nallur forest on Tuesday to catch the rogue elephant, which was causing trouble to farmers in the region, officials said.

A wild elephant died on Friday at Athur Nallur forest in Kushalnagar taluk of Kodagu district during a capture mission by the forest officials.

A wild elephant died at Athur Nallur forest in Kushalnagar taluk of Kodagu district during a capture mission by the forest officials. (HT Photo)

Amid pressure from the villagers, the forest department launched a combing operation at Athur Nallur forest on Tuesday to catch the rogue elephant, which was causing trouble to farmers in the region, officials said.

The rogue elephant attacked humans and destructed coffee, banana, and other crops in Athur Nallur and Modur villages, they added.

On Friday morning, the officials found the elephant in Athur forest and tranquillised it. Soon, the elephant ran for about 500 meters and fell into a coffee drying yard at a private land from 32 feet height, the officials said.

Veterinarians Dr Chittiappa and Dr Ramesh administered glucose and medicines soon after the incident. However, the elephant died, the forest officials said.

‘’The 20-year-old elephant was troubling villagers. It had lost eyesight in its left eye due to a cataract. Owing to this, the elephant fell from a height of 32 feet,” Madikeri division DCF A T Poovaiah said.

“Initially, we thought that the elephant did not have any fatal injuries, but it collapsed and died due to internal wounds,” he added.

During a similar operation, a wild elephant died at Marandoda village near Cheyyandane in south Kodagu on May 31. The elephant died after doctors administered tranquilliser. The officials later said there could have been an overdose of the tranquilliser, which might have led to a heart attack.

The wild elephant menace is not new to Kushalnagara and Virajpet taluks in Kodagu. The dubare elephant camp has been closed since Tuesday after a wild elephant in ‘masth’ attacked Dasara elephant Gopi. The Dasara elephant sustained injuries following the attack. According to officials, the wild elephant attacked Gopi twice during the night in two days. The Dubare elephant camp is just 12 kilometres from Athur.

‘’As the wild elephant was roaming near the camp, we closed it for tourists due to safety reasons,” DCF A T Poovaiah said. He said the camp would be open for tourists from Saturday.

The forest department opened another elephant camp near Harangi reservoir three months back, attracting tourists.