Radio-collared wild elephant captured from Mananthavady in Kerala dies at Bandipur in Karnataka

Thanneer Komban, the radio-collared wild elephant that was captured from Mananthavady in Wayanad district of Kerala on February 2 (Friday) night, died at the Ramapura elephant camp in the Bandipur tiger reserve in Karnataka on February 3 (Saturday) morning.

Thanneer Komban, the radio-collared wild elephant that was captured from Mananthavady in Wayanad district of Kerala on February 2 (Friday) night, died at the Ramapura elephant camp in the Bandipur tiger reserve in Karnataka on February 3 (Saturday) morning.

The animal was captured after tranquillising it. It was then relocated to the Bandipur forest around 10.30 p.m. on Friday in a wildlife ambulance.

Kerala Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran told the media that the incident was “shocking.” An expert committee would be constituted to probe the issue, he said.

A necropsy of the animal would be performed jointly by veterinary teams from Kerala and Karnataka, said Mr. Saseendran.

There were no failures on the part of the wildlife managers in the operation to capture the jumbo and the alleged delay in issuing the order to capture the elephant was due to the time-consuming procedures, the Minister added.

However, a wildlife expert has alleged that there was failure on the part of the officials in handling the situation.

Though Wayanad Sub-collector Vishal Sagar Bharath imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the area for the smooth operation around 10 a.m. on Friday, officials failed to control the mob though the operation was started only around 5.30 p.m., the expert said.