A trained elephant, a drone, a JCB machine: How a tiger that killed 2 villagers was captured

Around 6 am on Monday, the tigress had attacked the men when they were collecting wood in Surajpur forest area near Kalamanjan village under the Odgi development block.

The men had hit the tigress with an axe and the animal had taken refuge in the bushes near the spot where the incident had taken place.

On Monday afternoon, a team of forest officials, veterinary doctor, and others reached the spot and they could spot the animal.

“The risk was comparatively less as she was wounded,” said an official.

A drone was then used to take her photographs to study the nature of wounds which helped them ascertain that she will not be able to walk easily.

The officials, however, decided to delay the operation by a day due to visibility issues and to equip themselves better. The operation resumed at 9am on Tuesday when a trained Asiatic elephant named ‘Teeratram’ reached the spot.

Around 10am, a tranquiliser dart was fired at the big cat from atop the JCB machine. Within minutes, the animal lost consciousness and she was shifted to a cage.

An official said, “She was not moving for 24 hours before being captured but fortunately she was on her feet in the cage. She will be kept under observation for around a month. A committee will be constituted to find out if she can be released in the wild again.”