The Hindu : Karnataka News : Another elephant dies minutes after darting

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Monday, Feb 09, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Another elephant dies minutes after darting

Jeevan Chinnappa

Bullet injuries render the pachyderm sick and weak’

The elephant which died after it was captured at Aadinadoor in Kodagu on Sunday.

AADINADOOR (KODAGU): Another elephant aged around 32, which was captured in the forests in the Madikeri division of Somwarpet taluk in Kodagu on Sunday morning, died minutes after darting.

The elephant died of “shock” as it was “sick and weak”. This is the second case after an operation was launched on December 10 to capture elephants that wreaked havoc in parts of Kodagu. The first one died on January 6 in the Dubare Reserve Forest in Virajpet Division. The body of the elephant, which lost one of its tusks probably in a fight sometime ago, bore several bullet injuries that were infected badly.

B.B. Mallesh, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Madikeri Division, told The Hindu that the bullet injuries had rendered the elephant “sick and weak”.

Veterinarians Nagaraj and Srinivas, who had removed four bullets from the body, said the injuries might have caused three weeks ago.

There could be at least 20 more bullets in the body, Mr. Mallesh said. Bullet marks were found almost all over the body.

For Venkatesh, darter, who fired the tranquiliser dart, this was the 64th elephant. “It is unfortunate that this is the second elephant to die after darting,” he said.

The elephant was darted around 10.40 a.m. and it fell unconscious at 10.55 a.m. Elephants would run a few metres after darting. But this one did not do so, Dr. Srinivas said. The elephant did not wake up even after administering “revivon” medicine, he added. Range Forest Officer Dayanand said that a team of forest personnel rushed to the elephant immediately after it fell unconscious. Though the team found it breathing, it died after a few minutes. G.A. Sudarshan, Conservator of Forests, Kodagu Circle, said that the camp was recently shifted to Aadinadoor after permission was granted by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to catch two more elephants.

The demand to capture female elephants that frequently strayed into plantations and paddy fields would be looked into, he added.

Five elephants have been captured in the Dubare Reserve Forest area in Virajpet Division since the launch of operation. They are being tamed at the Dubare Elephant Camp.

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