WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
It wasn’t the first time officials had tried to capture the elephant, which is believed to be about 30 years old.
Indian forest officials have pacified and relocated a wild rice-loving elephant that has killed at least 6 people, according to media reports.
Nicknamed “Arikumban” or rice elephant, this elephant has a long history of harming people, specifically for breaking into shops and gatherings in search of rice in the southern state of Kerala.
The newspaper “Indian Express” that a team of 150 guards in the forests caught the elephant, which resisted its captors even after being hit with five sedative shots.
With his legs and eyes tied with cloth, he was hauled using 4 purpose-built elephants, loaded into a truck and fitted with a collar to locate him, before being taken to a wildlife sanctuary.
It wasn’t the first time officials had tried to capture the elephant, which is believed to be about 30 years old.
Strategy to catch the elephant
Arikombane was hit with tranquilizer shots in 2017, but managed to escape.
The newspaper reported that last month, keeping in mind his fondness for rice and grains, officials set up a shop to attract elephants, but the court stopped that plan.
Conservationists blame the rapid expansion of human settlements around forests and key wildlife corridors for an increase in conflicts between people and animals in parts of India.
According to the government, India is home to more than 60% of the wild Asian elephants.
According to the latest census of 2017, the number of elephants in India was approximately 30,000.