Elephant darted in Mudigere, dies within hrs

CHIKKAMAGALURU: The forest department's late-night operation to rescue and relocate a wild elephant went awry as the big mammal collapsed to death in Chikkamagaluru's Mudigere taluk soon after they darted it with a tranquilizer dose, reports Ranjith Kandya.
The state forest authorities have been carrying out a drive to capture on-the-loose elephants following the death of three persons in elephant attacks in the recent past. An elephant was successfully captured alive last week.
The officials launched the latest operation at Doddahalla, near Mekanagadde in Mudigere taluk, late Saturday night.
The officials managed to dart the elephant around 11pm and the animal was found dead a little later. The exact cause of the jumbo's death is yet to be ascertained through postmortem, said an officer.
Villagers accused forest officials of negligence and violating guidelines which say no animal should be tranqulized in the night.
They further alleged that the officials failed to identify the place where the elephant collapsed after it was darted. They suspect overdosage of medicine resulted in the death. After tranquilizing animals, antidotes are usually given to help them regain consciousness.
'Incident unacceptable'
Suresh, a villager, said they had demanded officials rescue and relocate the elephants due to an increase in attacks, but the tragic turn was unfortunate and unacceptable. The deputy conservator of forests and the chief conservator of forests were not available for comment.