Tamil Nadu: After sedation shot, jumbo flees into forest; hunt continues

COIMBATORE: A rogue wild elephant named ‘Rolex’ managed to escape even after being darted with a tranquilliser in the Coimbatore outskirts on Tuesday night.

After days of search by deploying drones and three kumkis, the forest department teams spotted the elephant camping in a farm owned by Kathiravan in Kembanur on Tuesday night.

Over 50 personnel of the Forest Department, who were trailing the elephant over the last few days, rushed to the farm to commence the operation to capture Rolex.

Forest Department veterinarian E Vijayaragavan and another retired veterinarian from the Animal Husbandry Department fired two darts of tranquillisers on the animal. One of the darts missed its target, while the animal received the tranquilliser shot from another dart. Soon, the panicked elephant fled away from the spot.

With the assistance of drones, the forest department spotted the elephant to have joined a herd at Thaliyur near ‘Yaanaimaduvu’ forest area. “As Rolex is under the influence of mild sedation, efforts were on to trail the animal with kumkis and resume our capturing operation,” said a forest department staff.

Meanwhile, upon knowing that the elephant had escaped despite firing a sedative shot, the farmers and villagers attempted to gherao the forest department personnel at night.

As tension prevailed, the police officials held talks and urged them to withdraw the agitation. The irate villagers urged the forest department not to cause further delay in capturing the elephant, which is believed to have killed two persons in the recent past.

It is to be noted that the elephant, a habitual crop raider, has also caused widespread damage to farmlands in the Boluvampatti area.