How Forest Department moved ‘Mountain’

BENGALURU: Just a few days after tusker Mountain was captured by the Karnataka forest department officials from Sakleshpur and relocated to Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS), it has now been captured and relocated again to a different location.

Reason: Mountain had moved out of CWS and was exploring new areas or trying to find its way back home (to Sakleshpur). It was captured on Monday morning from Channapatna, very close to human habitation.

In the last four days, Mountain (20), travelled around 100 km. He travelled through Cauvery River (where he camped for around 10- 12 days), then crossed Sangam, Kokkrebellur bird sanctuary, and then moved towards Mysuru Road state highway to Channapatna. 

“Earlier, when Mountain started to move out of CWS, it was brought back inside. However, when it crossed to the other side of Cauvery river, an alert was sounded. A special team of around 60 were deployed to keep a close watch on him. No conflict with humans were reported as he travelled only during the night and alerts were sounded. He walked through all the green pastures but the problem arose when he crossed the highway twice and the area was new to him. The lockdown and curfew helped in ensuring that there was no conflict,” forest officials said.

Vijay Kumar Gogi, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) told The New Indian Express, “Usually, tuskers wander inside forest areas, but this one moved too close to human habitation. The radio 
collar helped keep track of his movements.”