A female elephant, which was leading one of the herds roaming in parts of Sakleshpur, was found dead at Mattasagara village in the taluk on Saturday. The elephant named Kanthi, aged around 40, was recently radio-collared to track the movement of the herd it was leading.
Locals noticed the animal dead near a waterbody in the village and informed the Forest Department. Ashish Reddy, Deputy Conservator of Forests of Hassan Division, told The Hindu, “We are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause of the death. However, preliminary observation suggests that it was a natural death.”
The department had radio-collared four female elephants to track the movements of the herds. Kanthi, found dead on Saturday, was radio-collared in May this year. With its death, the number of radio-collared wild elephants came down to two. “Of the four radio-collared elephants, one lost the instrument a few weeks ago. And now another has died. Only two female elephants are left with radio-collars. Through them, we are tracking the movement of two herds,” the officer said.
Nine more to be radio-collared
The Forest Department has given approval to radio-collar nine tuskers, who roam alone and cause trouble in Sakleshpur, Belur and Alur taluks. “We are planning to take up the operation to radio-collar nine elephants on July 10. We will work out a detailed plan for the operation”, the officer said.
More than 60 wild elephants, scattered in different groups, roam in the three taluks. In the last 10 years, more than 75 people have been killed by elephants in Hassan district. Besides that, often standing crops are damaged by the herds, forcing the local people to urge the State Government to capture all elephants and translocate them.
