A male elephant that had wandered into human habitation at Palacode range in Dharmapuri district was translocated to a suitable area by the Forest Department on Saturday.
In an official release, it was said that the elephant, aged about 20 to 25 years, had strayed away from the main herd in Pennagaram Range forest area to Palacode range limits of Dharmapuri division in the last week of February. On March 11, according to the Department, the elephant reached the outskirts of Dharmapuri town by travelling about 25 km, crossing National Highway 44 during night hours. This reportedly created panic among the public in and around Dharmapuri town and adjacent villages.
The Forest Department personnel, led by H. Padma, Conservator of Forests, Th. Rajangan, District Forest Officer, Dharmapuri, Veterinarian A. Prakash, along with an elephant monitoring team, and elephant trackers from Hosur, joined together to monitor the animal for 12 days to ensure that it is driven back to Pennagaram forest area. “In spite of best efforts of the Department, the elephant came back to the human habitation,” the release said.
As the elephant continues to remain in human habitat at Morappur forest range limits over the last two days, in the interest of the safety of locals, forest officials on March 16 tranquilised and safely released the elephant around 9 a.m. in a suitable elephant habitat about 55 km away [from the village] and near water hole to ensure fodder and water availability, the release added.
