COIMBATORE: In a bizarre incident here, an elephant ran away alarmed after it was hit by a tranquiliser dart administered by forest officials, and died falling into a pit, early on Sunday.A week ago, the forest department launched a programme to radio-collar wild elephants so as to track its movements and thereby prevent it from entering human settlement areas.Coimbatore Divisional Forest Officer S Thirunavukkarasu said, “In Thadagam area, there were four male elephants which frequented a particular brick kiln. The team decided to dart a male elephant at night with the drug Xylazine, when it came there to feed, and put a radio collar it,” he added.On Sunday, a bull elephant, entered the area at about 12.20 am. When hit by the dart shot by foresters, the animal got alarmed. Incidentally, at the same time, a drunkard who was in the area spotted the animal and started yelling, making it flee.“By the time the drunkard was controlled, the animal had run along a rarely used path, slipped at a slope and landed upside down. The position put pressure on its lungs, severely restricting respiration. The animal was detected 55 minutes after the darting, less than 350 to 400 metres from the kiln, and was in poor physical condition,” the DFO said. As the pachyderm showed signs of collapse, 10 ml of Yohimbine hydrochloride (a revival dose) was given immediately.However, doctors declared the elephant dead due to respiratory arrest, soon after.There was no official word on why the foresters failed to anticipate trouble so as to take corrective steps.
Comments
0 comment