In a bid to end the escalating man – elephant conflict in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks of The Nilgiris, Forest Department teams on Monday evening tranquilised a suspected rogue elephant near a coffee estate 100 meters from Gudalur-Cherangode road.
There was unrest following the death of three persons in the last 10 days in Mango Range and O Valley estate areas.
Political parties had staged demonstrations seeking stern action to end man-animal conflict.
The Forest Department launched an operation to track, tranquilise and capture the elephant suspected to be behind the deaths. The needle of suspicion pointed at an elephant with one of its tusks broken and another Makhna elephant (male elephant without tusks).
On receiving an order from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the department pressed into service a team of veterinarians and three kumki elephants — Bomman (15) and Udayan (16), both from the camp at Theppakadu in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and Sujay (44) from the satellite elephant camp of the Department at Chadivyal at the foothills of Siruvani in Coimbatore. Trained and experienced elephant trackers were also on the job.
The teams identified the elephant with broken tusk and cornered it on Monday. It was tranquillised using a dart around 4 p.m.
However, it tried to move away and a second dart was also fired. With the help of three kumkis, the animal was tied up. Its health condition is being assessed.
