THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The wild gaur that was on the loose in the state capital causing panic and alarm among the residents of Andoorkonam panchayat and nearby areas has been finally tranquillised by the rapid response team (RRT) near Pirappancode in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
The unexpected appearance of the wild gaur in the suburbs of the capital city had triggered widespread panic, with residents reporting sightings of the animal roaming freely in the Technocity area near Digital University campus to the forest authorities.
It continues to be a mystery concerning how the wild gaur, which lives in dense forests, was spotted around 40 kms away from Palode, the nearest forest cover. Despite multiple attempts on Thursday, the wild gaur managed to evade capture on Thursday. On Friday, the forest officials resumed their operation as early as 6.30am and managed to immobilise the gaur with tranquilliser darts.
“We can’t drive it back as the forest area is very far away. Hence, we sought the permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden to tranquillise the gaur. We didn’t want to make the situation risky as the wild gaur was stressed yesterday. Our attempts to tranquillise the gaur failed yesterday. We camped in the location to monitor the gaur all night, and on Friday morning it travelled around 10-15kms. We finally caught it at Pirappancode. It’s a densely populated area and we didn’t want to provoke the animal,” said a top official with the Forest Department.
By afternoon, all arrangements were made to transport the wild gaur to Neyyar-Peppara area. “It’s an ideal location for wild gaur. There is food and water and the gaur is young and healthy. The place where we darted the wild gaur was swampy and hence it was a tough task to transfer it to the truck and take it back to the forest,” the official added.
Police authorities, Fire and Rescue team and revenue authorities were present during the operation. Two doses were darted for tranquillising the wild gaur. “We will not be keeping the gaur for observation and as it is healthy. Once it regains consciousness, it will be released to the forest area,” the official added.