The Forest Department personnel at Bandipur captured a wild tusker at Guddekere of Kundukere range as it used to stray into adjoining villages on the forest periphery.
The operation to capture the tusker was completed on Tuesday, and the authorities said that there were complaints of the elephant damaging crops and property. There was also an incident in which a farmer was trampled to death by an elephant in the same area and hence a decision was taken to capture the tusker, said the authorities.
The repeated raids on agricultural fields had forced the farmers to abandon work in their farms. The villagers recently staged a demonstration seeking its capture. The operation to capture the elephant commenced on June 2 and went on till 6. The authorities had deployed elephants Harsha and Dhananjaya from Dubare camp, Gajendra from K. Gudi and Parthasarathy and Jayaparakash from Rampur elephant camp.
The veterinarians included Mirza Waseem from Bandipur division, Sadashivan from Satyamangala Tiger Reserve and other veterinary officials, according to Ramesh, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve. He said the elephant was tracked and found in Guddekere forest area and was safely captured. Arrangements have been made to shift it to Rampura elephant camp at Ainuru Marigudi range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
Deputy Forest Officers of G.S. Betta range Gnanasekar, Karthik Yadav, forest guards Bharakat Ali, Devappa and others took part in the operation.
