Chikkamagaluru: Have forest officials caught and translocated the right jumbo, which had wandered into fields and destroyed crops? Wildlife activists do not feel so after the tusker, aged between 20 and 25 was caught at Balur reserve forest of Mudigere sub-division on Thursday.
An activist, Mr Veeresh, said forest officials were under pressure from local political leaders to catch the rogue jumbo and might have caught one among a herd at Balur reserve forest to please the villagers who were living in fear.
The doubts expressed by Mr Veeresh were supported by the villagers. They feel the captured elephant might not be the one which created problems by entering fields.
"Balur reserve forest is a natural habitat for elephants and the reserve forest forms a vital corridor for jumbos connecting Sakleshpur to Muthodi ranges via Mudigere. Forest officials have erred in identifying the problematic jumbo,” said Veeresh.
In the operation to catch the elephant, about 150 forest personnel were engaged for the job with wildlife veterinarian from Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Umashankar, tranquilizing the elephant. Later, the captured jumbo was shifted to Bandipur.
