Crop raiding wild elephant Karuppan captured in STR

COIMBATORE: Wild elephant ‘Karuppan’ has finally been captured after sedation at a sugarcane farm in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) on Monday early morning.

The elephant was administered with a ‘sufficient’ dose of tranquilizer, while it was raiding a sugarcane farm owned by one Murthy in Maharajapuram around 5 am. With the assistance of two kumkis, ‘Chinnathambi’ and ‘Mariyappan’ brought from Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), the wild elephant was goaded into a truck.

A large team of the forest department and veterinarians from STR, ATR and Hosur forest divisions were involved in ‘Operation Black’. The operation to capture the elephant was suspended twice before in January and March this year as the animal could not be sedated. The capture of Karuppan comes on the day, which is observed as ‘Save the Elephant Day’ to create awareness on the issues faced by elephants.