Killer bison on the run gives Goa forest officials sleepless nights

PANAJI: The forest department in Goa is leaving no stone unturned to track down a bison, which gored a 54-year-old farmer in Dharbandora region in South Goa resulting in his death on March 31.

From making use of elephants from a neighbouring sanctuary to comb the interiors of the forest area to making use of motion sensor cameras, the forest officials are adamant on finding the bison, which caused the death of farmer Yeno Solienkar.

“We are making all possible efforts to track down the bison. Once we catch hold of the movement patterns, we will tranquilise it as its actions have clearly indicated it to have gone wild and it could further pose danger to other farmers as well,” said deputy conservator of forest Kuldeep Sharma. “This is for the first time that an attack by a bison has led to the death of a farmer in this area,” said Sharma.

A total of 20 officers from the forest department are involved in this search operation which is daily doing the rounds of the forest area to look for hoof marks and droppings of the bison.

More than half a dozen cameras have also been used by the department to track the movement of the bison. The surprising element, however, remains that while bisons usually move around in groups and are frequently spotted in the area, the forest department hasn’t been able to track even a single bison in the last week.