Following reports of wild elephants causing damage to crops and affecting human lives in Chikkamagaluru district, the Forest Department has ordered the officials to capture two tuskers and relocate them with radio-collars.
Mr. Subhash K. Malkhede, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests(PCCF), Wildlife, in his order issued on Thursday, instructed the officers to identify two tuskers, among those seven-eight roaming in Mudigere sub-division, and capture them. The captured elephants should be relocated to the Bhadra Tiger Reserve area with radio collars. The PCCF directed the officers in Chikkamagaluru Circle to ensure the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was not violated while capturing the elephants.
The Chikkamagaluru Circle of the department had submitted a proposal seeking permission to capture four tuskers of those roaming in Mudigere sub-division. The officials had noticed the movement of 34 elephants in the forests of Chikkamagaluru sub-division. Of them, 20 had been roaming in parts of the Tatkola, Saragodu, Basti forests. “The forest area is sufficient for only 15 to 18 elephants. Hence, a few have been treading into human habitats, causing damage to farmlands lands, besides posing a threat to human lives”, the proposal stated.
However, the PCCF gave clearance to capture only two tuskers.
