Two wild elephants have been giving sleepless nights to the Forest officials here for the last 10 days. On March 5, the tuskers reached Arsikere, from parts of Tumakuru district, and since then, they have been roaming about in different parts of Hassan district.
“They were first sighted at Arsikere. Later, they moved to Belur. On Friday, the tuskers were seen near Alur and Saturday at Holenarsipur,” Ganesh Bhat, Deputy Conservator of Forests, told The Hindu on Saturday. The tuskers were also sighted near Doddakere, near Mavinakere in Holenarsipur taluk.
When the elephants were near Alur, the forest staff tried to drive them towards Doddabetta, a place known for elephants. However, they could not do so. “As these elephants are from a different locality, they are indifferent to local condition. It seems, they want to reach their original place,” Mr. Bhat said.
The officials suspect that the two elephants might have slipped from their group and strayed into parts of Arsikere. “So far, they have not harmed anybody. We cannot drive them to our desired location,” he said. Wherever the elephants were spotted, the local residents were getting scared. When they strayed into a banana farm near Basavanahalli in Alur taluk on Wednesday last, a large number of people had gathered there. A few people suffered minor injuries, when one of the elephants, disturbed by the mob, ran towards the gathering. A couple of presspersons, who were at the spot to capture elephants’ movements, were also injured.