The wild tusker that was captured after it killed a girl and left two seriously injured, including a veterinarian of the Forest Department, was taken out of the kraal at Sakrebailu elephant camp near Shivamogga on Monday. The animal was kept in the kraal, a wooden enclosure, for almost 80 days since it was captured on April 11.
The elephant trampled 17-year-old Kavana to death and left her mother seriously injured at Somlapura in Channagiri taluk of Davangere on April 8. Following the incident, the Forest Department conducted an operation to capture it. During the operation, the elephant attacked Vinay, veterinarian, who was part of the operation to administer tranquillizer darts. Dr. Vinay, who was seriously injured, was shifted to Bengaluru via zero-traffic corridor, and is recovering.
On January 5, during Environment Day celebrations, the 13-year-old elephant was named Abhimanyu.
J.R. Vinay, Range Forest Officer of Sakrebailu, told The Hindu that the animal was kept in the kraal to be tamed. “It was kept in the kraal all these days to bring down its aggression. Earlier, it would charge if a human being was nearby. Now, it has been tamed. However, it needs further training before it is taken to face the public,” the officer said.
“It responds to a couple of commands given by the caretakers. The caretakers will work on making the animal obey their orders. All these days, it hardly encountered human beings. The caretakers will train him and the process will at least a month,” the officer said.
The kavadigas (caretakers) follow certain rituals whenever an elephant is taken out of the kraal. They offer prayers to a local deity and host a feast for the community. DCF (Wildlife) Prasanna Krishna Patagar, RFO Vinay, veterinarian Murali Manohar, Jamedar (heads of caretakers) Khudrat Pasha, and others were present.
