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Captured elephant dies of shock in Kodagu

The dead elephant in Gattadalla in Kodagu district on Tuesday.

GATTADALLA (KODAGU District): In a tragic accident, a wild tusker captured in the forests here in Kodagu district on Tuesday afternoon died of “shock” even as efforts by the Forest Department team to revive it failed. This was the fourth elephant captured in the Dubare Reserve Forests in the district since operations began on December 10 last.

The elephant, estimated to be aged around 32 years, was darted with tranquilisers around 1.45 p.m. at Avaregunda, but the animal ran more than 3 km before falling. The Forest Department team, comprising Assistant Conservator of Forests, Shashidhar, Range Forest Officer M.S. Chinnappa, veterinarians Nagaraj and Srinivas and staff, went in hot pursuit of the animal. Just as the elephant was being roped in with the help of ‘kumkis’ (tamed elephants), the elephant died, Dr. Nagaraj told The Hindu.

“The pachyderm died from shock,” said Conservator of Forests, Kodagu Circle, G.A. Sudarshan, who rushed to the spot. The dead elephant had injuries on its trunk, head, ears, and near the tail, which indicated that it had been involved in a fight with other wild tuskers. Dr. Srinivas and Dr. Nagaraj said that the injuries were at least one week old. One of the wounds had turned into an abscess. The elephant had also lost one of its nails on its hind legs. There were numerous gun shot marks on the body of the elephant. “It spoke of the fact that the elephant was a troublesome one and people had shot at it,” Nanda Subbaiah, a resident of Maldare, said.

Mr. Sudarshan ruled out that the animal had died of an excess dose of ‘immobilon’, the tranquiliser that was used to dart the animal. The veterinarians said that the tranquiliser was not the reason for the death of the elephant. “We generally use 3.5 ml of immobilon to tranquilise the animal,” Dr. Srinivas said. ‘The same dosage was used for darting the other three elephants caught in Kodagu forests since the operations began in December,” Dr. Nagaraj said. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) had granted permission to catch six troublesome elephants in Kodagu. Post mortem would be conducted and the carcass burnt, Mr. Sudarshan, who is overseeing the operations, said.

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