PALAKKAD: Wild tusker PT 7 (Palakkad Tusker 7) was brought out of the kraal in Dhoni on Thursday, over seven months after it was tranquillised and captured by the Forest department.
The jumbo, which is partially blind in its right eye, was brought out of the cage for an eyesight inspection by a team from Wayanad led by Chief Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Arun Sakaria.
“After the team arrived, PT 7 was brought to the kraal and examined. Unless necessary, the tusker will be kept outside, in the open space. When it gets used to the surroundings, doctors from the veterinary college in Mannuthy will conduct a detailed examination of its eyes,” Palakkad Divisional Forest Officer Kura Sreenivas told TNIE. The inspection will reveal whether the jumbo lost its eyesight owing to injury from pellets fired by local residents to prevent it from raiding crops, and if there was need for surgery. Around 15 pellets were found on the jumbo’s body at the time of its capture on January 23.
Mahouts training it earlier had said PT 7 was partially blind in its right eye. It has been getting eye drops from the next day of being captured. The forest officials are checking the reason for the elephant losing eyesight at the age of 20.
The Kerala High Court had earlier formed an expert committee to examine PT 7 and see if it could be released into the wild. The committee informed the court that the chief wildlife warden had failed to mention specific reasons for capturing the elephant. It also highlighted the undue delay by the official in deciding whether to keep the elephant in captivity or release it in the forest.
The court had formed the committee after a petition accused the forest department of failing to try options like radio-collaring the elephant translocating it to another forest area, and going ahead with its capture.
PT 7, later nicknamed Dhoni, was tranquillised and captured by around 70 forest department personnel who were aided by three kumki elephants. The jumbo was sedated in a forest area between Mundur and Dhoni and moved to a kraal in Dhoni. The tusker was captured after it kept raiding crops and killed a person, Sivaraman, while he was out for a morning walk.