600-kg bison removed from farm in Nizamabad district

Hyderabad: In an operation that lasted nearly 12 hours, the Telangana forest department officials caught a massive Indian bison from an agricultural farm in Ranampally village of Kotagiri mandal in Nizamabad district and transported it safely to the Jannaram forest in Kawal Tiger Reserve, nearly 200 kilometers away.

The beast, which was about four years old and weighed nearly 600 kg, had been feeding on crops in the field and eating fruits of the nearby orchards. About six forest department officials were pressed into service for capturing the bison on Saturday morning.

With the help of Sujatha, the sub-DFO of Banswada forest, the forest department team successfully tracked the beast after which Dr Praveen Kumar, the veterinarian at the Warangal zoo, tranquillised the animal in the evening.

Dr Praveen had to get within 20 metres of the animal before shooting the tranquilliser. The bison was then shifted to a huge wooden carton and transported to the tiger reserve.