The Hindu : Tuskers to be captured in Kodagu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 25, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Tuskers to be captured in Kodagu

By Our Staff Correspondent

MADIKERI APRIL 24. The four elephants that have created a reign of terror in and around Siddapur and Polibetta areas in the district would be captured soon, the Conservator of Forests, Kodagu Circle, P. Anur Reddy, announced on Thursday.

He said he expected the trapping operation to be over by May.

Mr. Reddy told presspersons here that he had had discussions with the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Wildlife, regarding the elephants and the PCCF had permitted their capture. The permission required from the Union Government would be secured soon.

Mr. Reddy said a decision on whether to domesticate the elephants or translocate them to the forests had not been taken yet. The Forest Department would consult wildlife organisations and other agencies before taking the decision. Department officials were making preparations to launch the operation and all measures would be in place within 10 days, he said.

Chittiappa, veterinary doctor, had asked the authorities concerned for sedatives to tranquillize the animals.

He asked the people in and around Siddapur and Polibetta to be careful, especially in the mornings and evenings, during the trapping operation. The base camp to capture the elephants would be set up at Bajegoli, near Siddapur, amid a corporate coffee plantation. The Wildlife PCCF would visit Kodagu on April 26 to take stock of the situation, he said. Mr. Reddy said immediate relief for people affected by the elephant menace was important and long-term measures would be implemented later.

The Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Virajpet division, R.K. Srivastava, said one elephant in Siddapur, two in Polibetta, and one in the Thithimathi forest range would be captured.

Seven "kumki" or tamed elephants would be needed in the operation. They would be drawn from different ranges in the Nagarahole National Park and Dubare here. The kumki's identified were Arjuna from D.B. Kuppe range, Abhimanyu, Bharata, Gajendra, Rajendra, and Rama from Kallalla range and Harsha from Dubare.

The present stock of sedatives the Forest Department had was just sufficient to tranquillize only two elephants. More sedatives were being requisitioned from Bhubaneshwar, and nearly 30 syringes from Indore. "Hemp" to make ropes to tie up the elephants was being brought from Chitradurga and Bellary. Huge shackles had been obtained too. Mr. Srivastava said the scaring operation launched to drive away the elephants from the plantations in the Siddapur area had not been successful due to several factors.

The growers who were asked to put down the solar fencing did not cooperate. He startled everyone by saying that as many as 56 elephants had made coffee plantations their habitat.

They had virtually not seen any forest. Their corridors had shrunk drastically because corporate houses and individual growers had put up powerful solar fences, restricting the elephants' movement.

The DCF, Madikeri division, G.S.Yadav, the DCF (Social Forestry), Nagaraj, other forest officials, the President of the Coorg Wildlife Society, K.M. Chengappa, environmentalists, and Col. C.P. Muthanna of the Environment and Health Foundation were present.

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