BARIPADA: The tusker of Budikhamari jungle under Baripada forest division, which had drawn ire of the locals after a series of attacks, was relocated to Dhenkanal after its tranquilisation on Thursday night.
The tusker had killed four persons and damaged property across Baripada, Deuli, Betnoti and Rasgovindpur ranges in the last one week.
The decision to shift the elephant came after Forest department’s attempts to monitor and control the elephant’s behaviour did not bear fruit. Scared villagers created fire fences as an attempt to prevent damage to their property by the elephant.
Regional chief conservator of forests and field director Prakash Chand Gogineni told TNIE that the department studied the activities and behaviour of the tusker before taking the decision.
“Our priority was safety of the wild animals as well as that of the people. We took permission of the principal chief conservator of forests to shift the tusker to Dhenkanal for treatment and observation,” he said.
After tranquilisation, the animal was moved by a JCB machine successfully.