Trained jumbos to chase away herd

The Forest department on Monday decided to utilise the services of trained elephants from Mysore to drive away the herd of wild elephants that strayed into the villages of Bangalore Rural and Kolar districts and killed four people.

Forest Minister Ramanath Rai said in a statement that efforts were being made to drive away the elephants into the nearest forest area of Bannerghatta or Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, depending on their movement. The elephant herd had reached Sarjapur areas near the Hosur highway in the Bangalore Urban district limits on Monday morning.

Rai has sought the cooperation of the police force in driving away the elephants.
“Due to the presence of a large number of local residents, the elephants panic. The department officials are facing hurdles due to the presence of the crowd,” he said.

The animals were scared due to the presence of 3,000 to 4,000 people, who came to see them. This resulted in the death of two persons on Saturday. Manjunath, a journalist, died as he was trying to take photographs of the elephants from a very close range, the Minister said.

He said efforts had already been made to implement the recommendations of the elephant task force set up by the High Court of Karnataka.