‘Rogue’ elephant that killed three finally captured

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The “Makhna” elephant, who gained notoriety for killing three persons and habitually destroying crops, has been captured in Karnataka.

Makhna refers to a tuskless male elephant. The jumbo was located by a drone in the Thattaguppe forest area of Bengaluru Urban district on Monday. As many as eight tame elephants from Karnataka’s forest department were deployed to bring the jumbo to heel.

The services of “sharpshooter” Ranjan were also called upon. When the jumbo was found milling around in a low-lying area, it was shot with a tranquiliser dart, enraging the beast.

Afterwards, the elephant travelled a kilometre away. Forest department officials followed it. However, since the animal is so huge, the tranquiliser didn’t take effect right away. Instead, the jumbo gave chase to a forest department jeep but wasn’t able to close down the distance.

When the pachyderm finally collapsed, it was tied up and transported to the Bannerghatta National Park limits. The immediate plan is to keep it in an enclosure.

The forest department released some visuals of the elephant chase. People, particularly villagers who live in the vicinity of the Bannerghatta forest area in the Bengaluru Urban district, have expressed relief. They hope that a lasting solution can be found as far as the rogue elephant is concerned.

They are open to relocation of the animal. However, some conservationists and animal lovers are less than happy about the way it has been handled.

Leopard sighting causes anxiety

A leopard was spotted in Perampalli on the outskirts of Udupi city on Saturday night, causing consternation among locals.

The leopard made its way to the verandah of a house in the locality around 11 pm, causing their pet dog to bark repeatedly. This woke up the couple sleeping inside, who spotted the leopard on CCTV footage. The same big cat was sighted near Manipal, which is close to Udupi city.