Notorious jumbo that escaped from Karnataka elephant camp recaptured after a year

MADIKERI: The elephant Kusha, which had escaped from the Dubare elephant camp over a year ago, has been recaptured by the forest department. The 29-year-old male elephant is now in the Meenukolli Reserve Forest area and will soon be shifted back to the Dubare camp.

Kusha, a notorious elephant that had caused damage to farmlands across Chettalli area in Kodagu, was captured over three years ago. Kusha was trained by the mahouts at the Dubare camp and became a resident there alongside 27 other tamed elephants. However, Kusha was in musth a year ago and escaped from captivity in March 2020 to join a herd of 17 other wild elephants.

While the forest department was involved in regular tracking of Kusha, he always outdid their efforts to trace and capture him. Nearly a week ago, Kusha was spotted at Kandakere forest area near Chettalli -- his native forest -- and a plan was laid to recapture him.

With the efforts of four other tamed male elephants -- Dhananjaya, Prashantha, Sugreeva and Lakshmana -- forest department staff and officials cornered Kusha near Meenukolli forest limits. Kusha will soon undergo training for at least two months. The capture mission was led by department veterinary doctor Mujeeb and DRFO KP Ranjan alongside other forest staff, mahouts and elephant caretakers.