Mysuru: After two days of search in Satyamangalam forest area, the forest staff succeeded in capturing a tusker which had wreaked havoc in the Kollegal region. The staff on Friday tranquillized the tusker and shifted it to Kothaguli camp in Ramapura range in a truck.
The 20-year-old tusker, which had separated from the herd, on Friday night created havoc by killing a 50-year-old farmer Pika Naik from Marahalli village on the fringes of Bailuru forest area near Hanuru taluk. Following the incident, the villagers staged a protest and damaged a forest vehicle, urging the department to immediately capture the tusker. The elephant had, by then, destroyed groundnut, maize and millet crops in the region.
After obtaining permission from the government to capture the tusker, the forest officials summoned Dasara howdah elephant Arjuna, Abhimanyu, Krishna and Harsha from Balle and Dubare elephant camps to capture the tusker.
Kollegal sub-division ACF Shivaramaiah, ACF Chandru, RFOs Somappa, Ankaraju and Prakash, mahouts and other staff reached the Satyamangalam forest area on Wednesday morning in search of the tusker. After two days of camping and search operation in the region, the officers located the tusker deep in the forest at 5.30am on Friday. After wildlife veterinarian Umashankar successfully shot a tranquillizer dart, the forest officials took control of the tusker with the assistance of four captive elephants.
ACF Shivaramaiah told TOI that the tusker was loaded in a truck and shifted to an elephant camp in Ramapura range, 17km from where it was captured.