The elephant herd that strayed into Kuppegala village near Siddaramanahundi, about 15 km from Mysuru, on Tuesday moved to Mahadevapura village on Wednesday, travelling about 20 km.
The herd, comprising three tuskers, a female and a sub-adult, was traced to a farm on the banks of Cauvery river at Mahadevapura. “As the farm had sugarcane and plenty of water, the jumbos chose to remain there. They could not get anything to eat on Tuesday as they had stayed put in a shrub land the entire day,” said Deputy Conservator of Forests Karikalan.
Mr. Karikalan, who, along with a large contingent of forest staff, was monitoring the efforts to drive the elephants back into the forest, told The Hindu that the operation went on till 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday. “The herd crossed T. Narsipur Road and Varakodu, and reached Mahadevapura perhaps in the early hours of Wednesday,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the elephants would be driven back into the forests near Malavalli on Wednesday evening. “We didn’t want to resume the operation in broad daylight because of the crowds,” he explained. However, till late evening, the elephants were reportedly still staying put.
He added that thankfully, the elephants have not got separated, allowing the forest staff to focus their operation in one particular area. More forest personnel were deployed on Wednesday to finish off the operation.
About 150 took part in the operation on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, more than 200 were deployed.
The elephants are suspected to have come from the forests in Kollegal. “We suspect that they have come from Kaggalipura lake, close to the Kollegal forests,” the DCF said.
