The captured elephant.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Gonikoppa: The Forest Department successfully captured a wild elephant on Saturday near Chennangolli, three days after it attacked and killed a woman.
The forest officials and their team set out on tamed elephants to track the wild elephant. They located a 43-year-old male elephant standing in the Devarapura Devarakadu forest.
A special operation team then surrounded the elephant using trained elephants from the Mattigodu, Harangi, and Dubare camps—Bheema, Kanjan, Vikram, Prashanth, Srikant, and Eshwar. Wildlife experts sedated the elephant using a tranquiliser dart.
Veterinary expert Dr Ramesh and sharpshooter Ranjan successfully administered the tranquiliser shot. The elephant initially resisted, running a short distance before collapsing unconscious. Water was sprinkled on it to stabilise its condition, and the capture operation was intensified.
Once the elephant regained consciousness, it showed minimal resistance and was restrained using tamed elephants. With the help of a crane, it was loaded onto a truck and transported to the Dubare elephant camp.
Under the guidance of Karnataka State Wildlife Board member Sanketh Poovayya and Kodagu district CCF Dr Malathi Priya, the operation was led by Virajpet DCF Jagannath, Thithimathi ACF Gopal.
The captured 43-year-old male elephant has now been named "Veda" by the Forest Department in the presence of senior officials.