Camp jumbos help capture rogue elephant at Siddapura

People gathered in large number to witness the operation.

Forest department personnel have captured a female rogue elephant which was part of a herd of wild elephants camping near a coffee plantation, on Tuesday.

Residents in the vicinity of the estate, near Nelyahudikeri, were scared of the rogue elephant. The forest department had been trying to capture
the elephant for the last two days.

The operation began after puja was offered to the tamed elephants of Dubare and Mattigodu camps.

Confirming the presence of the rogue elephant at the estate, forest department veterinary officer Dr Muzib Rehman tranquilised the elephant.

The 20-year-old female elephant was captured with the help of jumbos Abhimanyu and Krishna from Mattigodu elephant camp and Harsha, Dhananjaya, Ishwara, Vikram, Ajjaiah and Lakshmana from Dubare camp, using ropes. The elephant was later shifted to the Dubare camp.

Somwarpet ACF Chinnappa, RFO Aruna, DCF Ranjan and others took part in the operation. Rehman said the rogue elephant was doing well.

The elephant had created panic in Nelyahudikeri and Abhyatmangala areas.

The herd has been camping in the coffee plantations of Abhyatmangala and Attimangala for the past several days. Apart from destroying crops, the elephants are said to have chased people around.

During a recent operation by the forest department, the herd was chased back to the Dubare reserve forest. But, they seem to have returned.

The department is trying to capture another rogue elephant at Meduru near Suntikoppa. The government had given permission to capture the two jumbos.