Captive tusker brutally killed by two wild ones in Palamu Tiger Reserve
Digging of trench around animal sheds is the only solution for avoiding such attacks in future.
DR DS SRIVASTAVA, wildlife expert
LATEHAR: In a rare incident, a captive 40-year-old male elephant named Kaal Bhairav was killed in an attack by two wild tuskers in Jharkhand’s Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) area late on Monday night, officials said on Tuesday.
As per available information, the two tuskers, part of a wild herd, had raided the elephant shed near Palamu Fort in Betla National Park and killed the elephant, who could not defend itself as it was chained.
However, forest officials heaved a sigh of relief, as the raiding tuskers did not even remotely harm the two adult female elephants and two calves--one female and one male--staying in the same shed.
The tiger reserve management had built the elephant shed to house the three elephants, including Kaal Bhairav, brought to Jharkhand from Karnataka in 2018.
Later, two other captive elephants were shifted there in 2018.
PTR deputy director, north division, Kumar Ashish said, “Ten mahouts manning three watch towers near the elephant shed tried hard to chase away the raiding tuskers by bursting crackers and creating noise, but the highly aggressive attackers relented only after they killed Kal Bhairav. Twenty more men reached the spot from Betla range to help, but failed.”
The wild tuskers pushed the captive elephant intensely enough that the latter’s chain was broken from the hook. They pushed Bhairav 200 metres into the forest, penetrated tusks into its body, tearing its stomach and trunk, the deputy director said.
Noted wildlife expert and elephant expert Dr DS Srivastava, who also rushed to the spot on Tuesday morning, said, “Territorial fights between tuskers from different herds are common, but this incident is very rare. Never ever a captive elephant has been attacked in such a manner. There is no precedence.”
“It is good to keep captive wild animals in natural surroundings, but there must be some measures to ensure their safety. Digging of trench around the animal shed is the only solution for avoiding such attacks in future,” Srivastava said.
The wildlife expert suspected that the wild tuskers belonged to an outside herd and had entered the tiger project recently from Polpol area.
Meanwhile, the PTR management formed a team to monitor the movement of the wild herd.