Krishnagiri: Wild tusker gives forest staff a slip; escapes darting bid again

KRISHNAGIRI: For the second time on Saturday, a rogue tusker that killed many people in the past could not be tranquilized due to an unfriendly environment in Krishnagiri district. The operation for darting the 16-year-old tusker named 'crow bar' began on Friday and continued for the next day, due to failure in sedating the animal after repeated attempts. Similar was the experience for the team on Saturday. They spotted the animal at around 3 am when the jumbo was standing on the farm land here at Marachandaram.

The tranquilizing team split into four groups waited for the animal, hoping the elephant would enter the forest through its usual path. But to the disappointment of all, the tusker gave the darting team a slip and entered the forest through a different route.

“A truck driver told us that the 'crow bar' had already entered the forest when our team waited in hope that the elephant will return to the forest by its usual path," A forest department staff told reporters. Crow bar gave the darting team a slip by avoiding its usual path to reach forest via Marachandaram village. The tusker took a different route and entered the forest, after crossing Athimugam-Hosur road at Aaloor village, two-km from Marachandaram.

The Forest department officials changed their plan and decided to track the animal and later tranquilize it. The jumbo was spotted at a distance of 200 meters from Chennai-Benagluru national highway at Gopachandaram, near Shoolagiri of Krishnagiri district. However, the officials could not dart the animal because of the unfriendly terrain having thick bushes. According to them, such terrain will be a challenge for the team in transporting the animal after the post-darting operation.