BENGALURU: A 22-year-old tusker which got caught in a rail barricade at Mugguru forest in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) near Kanakapura was rescued by forest personnel on Wednesday.
The elephant was trying to enter Muneshwara Betta from Mugguru when it got caught in the rail barricade. The forest patches of Muneshwara Betta and Mugguru are part of the traditional elephant corridor connecting Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and part of the Mysore Elephant Reserve notified in 2002.
Officials from the Mugguru range said they reached the spot after local farmers alerted them. All efforts to force the tusker to come out of the barricade failed. Another team was rushed to the spot to cut the railings and save the elephant.
“The tusker must have got caught in the barricade on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. The exhausted animal was rescued after an eight-hour operation. A team of veterinarians examined it and administered IV fluids and nutrition supplements. The tusker did not suffer any internal injuries but had some external wounds caused while trying to get away from the barricade,” said Jagannath NH, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
A team of experts followed the tusker for around 2km after which drones were used to monitor its movement and health.
Forest officials said rail barricades are erected to prevent elephants from straying into human habitats from forests. But in this case, the tusker was moving from one forest patch to another.
The boundary is fragmented in such a manner that a portion of it leans towards the land cultivated by farmers. This forest patch connects Bannerghatta National Park with Mugguru, CWS, BR Hills, Bandipur Tiger Reserve and forests in Tamil Nadu. The forest patch houses a large number of elephants.
The forest department has erected the rail barricade for 7km without tentacle fencing. Due to this, the tusker was able to find space through it. The officials admitted that there have been instances of elephants crossing the barricade. But, this is the first incident of an elephant getting caught in the barricade in this region.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Kumar Pushkar said efforts are on to monitor the movements of elephants in CWS and measures have been taken to mitigate the man-animal conflict.
He said the rail barricade is outside the forest boundary and efforts are being made not to obstruct the movement of elephants along the corridor.
