Elephant Tranquilized For Radio-collaring Dies In Coimbatore Forests

The second elephant that was a target for radio collaring as part of efforts to monitor problematic herds, died after being tranquilized. Forest officials had already successfully radio collared the first elephant last week. The second elephant was found in the Thadagam range after intensive searching by trackers. The tusker which was targeted for radio collaring was found in a brick kiln and after all preparatory arrangements, the animal was tranquilized. It appears that the elephant ran amok after being shot and from all the noise raised by the locals. The forest officials attempted to chase the elephant to douse it with water to keep its temperature steady, but the elephant took off for the hills in the darkness. The animal was later found dead at the foot of the Anubavi temple. It appears that the elephant collapsed in an uncomfortable position when sedation had reached its peak and this may have caused respiratory problems which led to its death. A post-mortem also indicated that the animal had a gastro-intestinal infection. There have been 16 deaths due to conflicts in the Coimbatore Forest Division and numerous crop raids.