BENGALURU: A 40-year-old jumbo, reportedly disowned by Kerala forest officials, allegedly succumbed to the trauma it underwent during a capture and release operation in Kerala on Friday late night and the jumbo is said to have breathed his last en route to Rampura Elephant Camp in Bandipur National Park on early hours of Saturday.
The necropsy on the elephant carcass revealed that the tranquilised elephant died of cardiac shock. The necropsy was conducted in presence of officials concerned of Karnataka and Kerala. Bandipur National Park of Karnataka shares its borders with Kerala and also Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu.
The jumbo was tranquilised by Kerala forest officials on Friday in a late night capture operation after it strayed into human habitations in Mananthavady of Kerala and reportedly Kerala forest officials took a decision to send the jumbo to Rampura Elephant Camp considering that the jumbo belonged to Karnataka.
The jumbo named “Taneer” by animal lovers in Karnataka was caught in an elephant capture operation in Belur taluk of Hassan district of Karnataka and it was released in Moolehole range of Bandipur National Park, sharing borders with Kerala, about a fortnight back. Some wildlife lovers had shared the photographs of “Taneer” strayed into human habitations in Mananthavady on a social networking site, a couple of days back.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle Bandipur National Park Director Ramesh Kumar said the elephant tranquilised in Kerala was ferried in a truck and before it reached , the animal had died. The jumbo had travelled for nearly three hours to reach its destination, Rampura Camp.
“The elephant collapsed the moment the truck was opened at around 1.14 am (Saturday),” said the Director and continuing, Ramesh Kumar said that Kerala forest officials had communicated to him on the plans to shift the elephant to Rampura camp and later on to release the "captured" elephant in some deep forest areas of Bandipur.
Taking a serious exception to the Kerala forest officials’ action, a former State Wildlife Board member and wildlife activist Joseph Hoover doubted that the jumbo was sent to Rampura Elephant Camp in Bandipur after discussions by Kerala forest officials that the “jumbo was from Karnataka and let it go back.”
Seeking the suspension of the officials concerned responsible for the death of a jumbo in captivity and posed a query whether it is Kerala Wildlife Warden or other officials concerned “How can you make such a statement that the elephant strayed into Kerala belonged to Karnataka?”
Hoover demanded a probe into the incident and observed that forest officials should have known that wild animals do not know boundaries or (human) languages nor have any political affiliations and that elephants, tigers, leopards among others are free ranging animals.
