Mumbai: To capture T1’s cubs, forest department raising chain-link fence

The department has also recalled the services of the Madhya Pradesh forest department team that had unsuccessfully tried to capture Avni. The team has agreed to conduct the capture operation and will be here soon. “The fence is aimed at restricting the two cubs to the area. It will be covered by a cloth to make it opaque. This will prevent the cubs from seeing anything outside, prompting them to try and move out ,” said AK Mishra, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), adding, “the fencing work is nearing completion.”

The cubs were also ordered to be captured by the PCCF in September. The operation has since continued from November 2. The cubs have been moving in the area near Anji village over the past fortnight and have been killing baits regularly. They have frequently been caught in camera traps since then.

The MP team had to stall its operation to capture T1 after an elephant from the Maharashtra forest department used in the tracking operation ran away from the base camp and killed a woman in a village about 20km away.

The department is also talking to its Karnataka counterpart to procure an elephant squad for such operations in future. It is one of the recommendations of the state committee that probed the T1 killing.