The operation to capture the wild elephant that is on rampage in Davangere and Chitradurga districts from one week now, commenced in the forest that falls under Ubrani section, part of Channagiri Range Forest, along the border of Shivamogga and Davangere districts on early hours of Sunday.
As many as 20 elephant trackers from Mathigodu and Sakrebailu camps began combing the forest in two teams from 8 a.m. Though the trackers spotted the wild elephant amidst bamboo bushes near a hillock in the evening, the operation could not be executed owing to bad light.
Balachandra T., Range Forest Officer of Bhadravati, told The Hindu that the operation would resume on Monday morning. As Ubrani forest has hilly terrain with a thick growth of bamboo, even after the wild elephant was spotted, it could not be captured immediately. It is difficult to fire a tranquiliser dart at the animal on this terrain. Moreover, kumki elephants that play a big role in the operation cannot make easy movements here.
It may be mentioned here that the wild elephant that killed three and has injured five people in last week was seen entering the forest in Ubrani section on Saturday evening. The contingent of Department of Forest and Wildlife is camping near Ubrani to capture it.
As part of the operation, seven trained elephants, that include three from Mathigodu elephant camp in Nagarahole National Park, two each from Dubare elephant camp in Kodagu and Sakrebailu elephant camp in Shivamogga district arrived at Ubrani on Saturday night. As many as 120 personnel of the department, including three veterinary experts, have been deputed for the job.
The department has installed camera traps at 30 vantage points in the forest to track the movement of the elephant.
