Thiruvananthapuram: The rogue wild elephant, Palakkad Tusker 7 or PT7, which has been creating havoc in the Dhoni area of the district, was tranquilized during the early morning hours on Sunday by the Kerala forest special squad.
After hours of tranquilizing the elephant, it has been pushed into a special lorry of the forest department with the help of three ‘kumki’ elephants and shifted to the Krall or enclosure for elephants made with eucalyptus trees.
The elephant, according to Dr. Arun Zachariah, Chief Veterinarian with the forest department, was darted thrice on Sunday morning. The first two were fired to tranquilize the elephant while the third was fired while the animal was shifted to the lorry as a booster dose to prevent the elephant from regaining consciousness and creating mischief.
It may be noted that PT 7 had killed a morning walker, Sivaraman in Dhoni while he was on an early morning troll and the elephant had crushed him to death.
Dr. Arun Zachariah while speaking to IANS said, “This elephant was a bull among other elephants and a tough elephant. However, we planned the operation meticulously and shot him with the tranquilizer at the right time and is now shifted to the Krall in the Dhoni forest camp.”
An 82-member special team of the forest department, including the Rapid Response Team of the forest department, three kumki elephants, and veterinarians were deployed from Saturday morning onwards to capture the elephant. However, on Saturday the elephant gave a slip to the officials.
On Sunday, the RRT team tracked and informed the forest team, including Dr. Arun Zachariah that the elephant was in plain land near a rubber plantation and the team rushed to the spot by 4.45 a.m. However, the team could fire the tranquilizer only by 7.10 a.m. as the elephant was in the company of another elephant.
The elephant will now be closely watched by the forest department in the Krall and the elephant is periodically being sprayed with water and another antidote of the tranquilizer will be fired after a couple of hours.
Kerala minister for local bodies, M.B. Rajesh reached the Dhoni camp and felicitated the forest department officials. The minister also draped Dr. Arun Zachariah with a ‘Ponnada’. All the officials were felicitated at the Dhoni camp and slogans were also raised in support of Dr. Arun Zachariah and his team.
Akhil, son of Sivaraman who was killed by the elephant, while speaking to IANS said, “It’s a big relief. Even though we will not get our father back, capturing this elephant, which had wreaked havoc in the Dhoni area, is a major achievement of the forest department. I do thank everyone involved in the operation to capture PT 7.”
–IANS