Bear run sparks panic in a village in Koppal

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT
Koppal

The residents of Chikkasulikere village in Koppal district were shocked to see three wild bears walking on the road on Thursday evening. According to information reaching here, the panic-stricken people ran helter-skelter and the bears later began climbing the roofs of various houses.

The shocked citizens ran for their safety. The women and children locked themselves inside the houses. A curfew-like situation prevailed in the village. People became more tense when the bears appeared on the rooftops. Later, a group of villagers came out armed with lathis, sticks and other sharp weapons. They chased the bears, which ultimately vanished to the nearby hillocks.

The people felt relieved only after they were assured that the bears had returned to their habitat. Wild bears are spotted regularly in Hiresulikere, Chikkasulikere and Ganganala villages. They would come after sunset and leave after devouring the crops, vegetables and fruits grown in the fields.

Hitherto, the people saw it as stray incidents, but now these nocturnal raids have become more frequent. In Chikkasulikere, the bears have damaged the watermelon grown on two acres of land belonging to Sharanagouda.

Many other farmers have also been affected and the damaged crops include maize, millet and white jowar. The compensation provided by the Forest Department is very meagre. The panic-stricken villagers have urged the Forest Department to nab the bears and shift them to Daroji Bear Sanctuary in Vijayanagar district.

The hillocks in and around Koppal, Vijayanagar and Ballari districts have become a safe haven for the bears, and they often enter nearby villages in search of food.

Tiger kills jumbo calf

The tourists on safari have captured images of a tiger devouring an elephant calf in Kakanakote range in Nagarhole National Park in Mysuru district on Friday.

A group of people who had gone on a safari early Friday inside the Kakanakote jungle happened to see this rare sight. The tiger was found dragging the body of an elephant calf inside the bush. The jumbo calves were the easy prey for tigers and leopards once they got separated from the herd. A forest officer said in this case, the calf might have escaped from its herd or otherwise it would be difficult for the big cat to hunt it. The grown up elephants go to any extent to protect their calves.

Captured tusker missing

A lone tusker which has become a nightmare in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district, has given a slip from being caught by a large posse of Forest Department personnel on Friday. The State government has given permission to capture and radio collar two elephants that had made life miserable for people in the Malnad region.

They not only raided crops, but had recently killed two people. One such elephant was nabbed on Wednesday and shifted to Nagarhole National Park after radio-collaring it to monitor its movements.

Another marauding tusker, which has already claimed two lives in Kadegarji village in Belur taluk of Hassan district, is yet to be nabbed. This jumbo has been named as 'Mattur' and proved to be the strongest among other wild pachyderms. To capture it, the Forest Department staff had deployed eight tamed elephants.

The 'Operation Mattur' was launched around 8 am on Friday from Heggovi village in Sakleshpur taluk with six elephants, Bhima, Maharasthra Bhim, Harsha, Ajeya, Mahendra and Prashanth. This time, they had used a drone camera to locate the elephant. After being located, the veterinarian was all set to dart it. But on seeing the men in khaki, the jumbo fled and efforts by the tamed elephants to stop it proved futile.

The rains added to the forest personnel's misery, but they continued the search. The tusker kept on changing its location and traversed through coffee estates and deep jungle.

Panic in village

In the afternoon, Mattur entered Vadur village and sparked panic among the people. Later, it entered a coffee estate and the workers had a narrow escape.

A dart fired by the veterinarian doctor missed the marauding elephant. Despite a 15-km chase, it continued to elude capture. By evening, it was found in a dense forest and when the doctor tried to dart it, it again gave a slip, after outwitting the tamed jumbos.

The operation was called off as it was dark. There had been demand from the people of this region to nab "Mattur". Last year, this tusker had attacked Abhimanyu, a Dasara elephant when it was deployed to nab it. Since then, the Forest Department has been making all out efforts to capture and radio collar the elusive pachyderm. The Department has plans to continue its search operation using drones, and are determined to nab the marauding jumbo.