JOIN USMan-animal conflict: Jumbos reappear near Mysore
With the herd of wild elephants, which was spotted at Chitravana Resort on Monday, being spotted close to the city, again on Tuesday, jumbo headache for the Forest department continued for the second consecutive day.
The herd was spotted near a farm close to the Agricultural Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC), raising fears among the people living close to the area. The herd consisted of eight elephants, including a calf.
Forest department officials were quick in reacting to a possible human-animal conflict, and cordoned off the road connecting Nanjangud to J P Nagar in the city, and ensured that the elephants stayed put at the farm.
Tamed elephants brought by the Forest department to drive the elephants back to the wild on Monday — Gajendra and Srirama from K Gudi Elephant camp and, Vikram and Prashanth from Dubare Elephant camp — were employed to drive away the herd back to the wild on Tuesday.
The herd had reached up to Sinduvallikere in Mysore taluk on Monday night, after forest officials drove them away from Chitravana Farm. Forest officials had expected the herd to move into the forest, and had called off the operation on Monday.
Return
Forest officials suspect that the animals might have returned after reaching Sinduvallikere, owing to loud noise generated by loudspeakers used for celebrations on the last Monday of Karthika month in nearby villages.
The herd then entered a plantain and ragi field in Sinduvalli and damaged crops.
Forest officials continued to drive away the elephants from the city with the help of tamed elephants and bursting of crackers.
Deputy Commissioner C Shikha, who visited the spot, said, the residents of villages through which the elephants are driven away, should not venture out of their homes. Movement of trains on the Nanjangud-Mysore route too has been stopped for a while, she said.
Curious crowds again turned out to be a headache for forest officials. Forest department had to seek assistance from the police department again to control the crowd, while elephants were being driven away.
Chief Conservator of Forests Markandeya, Deputy Conservator of Forests D S Gaonkar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) K Kamala and others were present.