Wild elephant chased back into the safety of the forest

Operation Jumbo launched by the Forest Department to send back a wild elephant that had strayed onto Karnatak University campus on Saturday night finally succeeded on Tuesday.

After entering the university campus, the pachyderm subsequently moved to Lakmanhalli locality on Monday giving a sleepless night to foresters and also the residents of the surrounding areas.

On Monday afternoon, the rescue team of foresters sensed that the pachyderm was getting dehydrated and splashed water on it. A team of 50 forest officials and employees was deployed to keep a watch on the movement of the elephant and it camped behind the Police Training Academy on Kalghatgi Road where the elephant was spotted on Monday.

Subsequently, during early hours of Tuesday, the tusker was spotted at Nayakanhulikatti and the forest officials, led by Deputy Conservator of Forest Yashpal Ksheersagar, launched an early morning action to chase the tusker back into the forest.

Traditional drums were used to scare the elephant and as the movement of vehicles on the Hubballi-Dharwad Bypass Road was reduced during the early hours, they managed to get the elephant cross the bypass road and then chased it towards the forest. They finally succeeded in getting the pachyderm enter the forest region through Mandihaal.

Mr. Ksheersagar said that much to the relief of the residents, the elephant had been chased back into the forest and there was no need to panic now.

After getting separated from a herd, the bull elephant had strayed onto the university campus in search of food, he said.

In fact, the forest officials had summoned expert mahouts and veterinary doctors from Binkadakatti Zoo near Gadag and also three pachyderms, two bull elephants and a cow elephant, from Sakrebailu Elephant camp in Shivamogga. But the officials did not press them into service as before they could do so, they managed to get the tusker cross the bypass road and send it back into the safety of the forest.

Mr. Ksheersagar lauded the efforts of all those involved in the operation, including the foresters who kept a watch over the bull elephant from Sunday itself.