Elephant 'Kusha' finally caught

Young tusker had gone into the forest in search of female companion, a year ago

Kusha, a male elephant from Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu, who went inside the forest, in search of a female companion, was finally caught by the forest department officials with the help of tamed elephants, mahouts and kavadis on Tuesday.

A year ago, Kusha, the young and mischievous tusker, who was in ‘musth’ stage, broke his shackles and made his way straight into the woods, in search of a female companion.

However, Kusha failed to return back to the camp, even after a year. The tuskers in the camp normally go inside the forest during the mating season and return to the camp after two to three months.

All efforts by the mahouts and forest department officials to persuade Kusha to return had not yielded any results all these days.

Kusha was not in a mood to return to the camp, even though he was found loitering in the surroundings. He threw tantrums and shied away from the team that was carrying out a search operation.

When the forest department personnel, mahouts and kavadis tried to get closer to Kusha, his female companion would register her protest too, said the officials.

Kushalnagar RFO Ananya Kumar, under the guidance of DCF Prabhakaran, had installed CCTV cameras to trace the elephant and finally captured Kusha with the help of tamed elephants Prashanth, Dhananjay, Sugreeva and Lakshmana, in Meenukolli forest limits, in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Kusha was forcefully separated from his female companion. Kusha has been shedding tears and trumpeting since then, remembering his female companion.

The elephant has been tied near a guest house in Meenukolli. Kusha will be taken to Dubare Elephant Camp shortly, to be tamed, said RFO Ananya Kumar.

Hunsur Wildlife Division veterinary doctor Dr Mujeeb, Deputy RFOs K P Ranjan, K S Subraya, elephant camp mahouts, kavadis, and forest department officials from Meenukolli were part of the drive taken up to capture the elephant.