COIMBATORE: Residents of Ooty, tourists and roadside vendors have heaved a sigh of relief as the Forest Department has decided to relocate a male Indian gaur, which has been creating problems for four years in the Botanical Garden, Commercial Road, Doddabetta and Snowdown areas. Chief Wildlife Warden T P Raghunath has already given the green signal for it, reportedly the first gaur relocation in the Coimbatore region.
The Forest Department decided to relocate the large animal as diverting it into the forests areas was not effective. In the latest incident on May 9, it came to the busy Commercial Road and damaged a parked two-wheeler. Anti-poaching watchers, with the help of the police and firemen, struggled for nearly five hours to chase it into the forest. Though the gaur has been creating disturbances, it has not injured or killed anyone so far. “We have identified the animal.
It has a cut on right ear, which clearly marks it out from others. We plan to relocate it into the Sigur forest in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, where grass is abundant. It has been experiencing diarrhoea for two weeks. Once its health improves, we will tranquillise it at a convenient time, by engaging Joint Director (Animal Husbandry) N S Manokaran, who is now stationed in Ooty,” said Deepak Srivastava, Chief Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle.