MANANTHAVADY : The fourth day’s mission to capture Belur Makhna failed as the wild elephant moved deep into the forests. On Wednesday, the forest officials received the radio collar signal of the jumbo, which had moved to the Nagarahole tiger reserve region around midnight on Tuesday, and returned to the Kerala-Karnataka border by morning.
The team led by North Wayanad DFO Martin Lowel, South Wayanad DFO A Shajna, Wayanad Wildlife Warden P Dinesh, Flying Squad DFO Kozhikode Imthias A P and Social Forestry ACF Harilal moved to the place where the signal was received.
During the search, the tusker was spotted twice and the veterinary experts were ready to fire the tranquilliser shots. The first attempt was unsuccessful as the elephant quickly hid in the forest.
“We tried to shoot the elephant for the second time but it retreated after the accompanying elephant charged at the mission team. The mission will continue on Thursday,” North Wayanad DFO informed.
Meanwhile, tension gripped the area when local residents spotted a tiger near the St Alphonsa Church in Padamala at 6.30 am on Wednesday in the vicinity of the house of Ajeesh Joseph, who was killed in a wild elephant attack last Saturday. After getting information, forest guards reached the spot and started a search.
“While going to Padamala Church, we saw the tiger. The tiger escaped when we shouted and cried for help,” said Lissy, the local resident who spotted the animal.
Following the incident, the local residents lit torches in Padamala to protest against recurring wildlife attacks.
“Despite informing the forest department that the human - wildlife conflicts have intensified, there was no intervention,” said Mukundan, a resident.
Forest ranger held hostage
Chedalath forest range officer Abdul Samad K P was held hostage by the protesters who demanded to issue an order to tranquillize the tiger which has been spreading fear in the locality for more than a month.
The forest department has set up three cages at Thanitheruvu, Surabhikkavala and Vadanakkavala and installed 15 CCTV cameras too.
The protesters, who held the officer hostage from 11am to 3pm, backed off after the officials agreed to take further steps to issue the order to tranquillise the tiger