Gaur strays into Ooty town, hits business for the day

Ooty: A wild gaur, commonly known as Indian Bison, which strayed into the busy Commercial road area here on Monday, took shelter amidst the bushes and grass cover in a vacant land at Rajhans junction there.

The gaur’s walking in triggered panic, prompting the foresters to form a specialteam to monitor its movement to evolve plans to relocate it.

The wild gaur’s intrusion into the heart of Ooty’s commercial area also unwittingly caused loss to the Tamil Nadu exchequer, as the animal’s sudden presence forced a state-run Tasmac wine shop to shut for the day, incurring a loss of its
average daily income of '60,000.

Though the incidences of gaur straying into the human settlement in this hills is a regular phenomenon, on Monday, the story was entirely different.  

The heavily built gaur, which entered the town limits here, entered a vacant land next to a textile shop complex and other shops nearby.  

The residents along the area  who spotted the gaur  in the early hours were scared to venture out and informed the foresters.

The police and foresters immediately cordoned off the road leading to the shopping complex and some private offices located there.  

The Tasmac shop on the rear end of the road had also to be closed for the day.

Identifying it as an aged male gaur, Mr. Saravanakumar, assistant conservator of Forests here,  said that this could have walked into the vacant land there on Sunday night to  feed on the well grown grass there.

“Since there is risk involved in relocating the animals in daylight in a busy area with more crowd movement, we have decided to start our operations in the night hours of Monday to safely relocate the gaur,” he added.