Forest staff lay in wait to capture ‘Karuppan’

COIMBATORE: Large teams of Forest Department in Sathyamangalam are waiting desperately for a wild elephant nicknamed ‘Karuppan’ to venture out of the forest cover to commence the operation to capture it.

“As the problematic elephant did not come out of the forest area over the last two days, there is a high possibility for Karuppan to turn up for crop raiding on Thursday night. We are waiting for its arrival,” said a senior official of the Forest Department.

It was finally decided to capture the problematic elephant, which has been frequenting farms in villages in Thalavadi Range to raid crops. It has also attacked two farmers to death.

As part of the capturing efforts, three teams of the Forest Department, including elephant trackers, veterinarians and staff assessed areas where Karuppan used to rest during the day at Akkurjorai forest area in Jerahalli forest range at Hasanur division.

Each team of around 15 persons have been involved in the task of identifying suitable terrain to capture the elephant. Besides using drones to track the elephant, kumkis brought from Top Slip were deployed in the operation. The animal is likely to be captured and radio collared, before being released into the deep forest area.