Coimbatore: Gaur stranded in Sivanandapuram

COIMBATORE: Forest department personnel are struggling to rescue a young gaur stranded in Sivanandapuram, near Saravanampatti.
The animal must have missed its pathway at Kurudampalayam near Thudiyalur and travelled through the Kousika river route to enter human habitations, an official said.
Local residents alerted frontline staff of the Coimbatore forest range about the gaur, spotted in the thorny bushes thriving on Sahara City’s abandoned construction site at Keeranatham, on Saturday around 8am.
A 15-member team reached the place and climbed on a building to spot the animal, the official said. “But we were not able to spot it. In the evening, we received information that the gaur was spotted at Vilankurichi. We reached there at 8.30pm. Some residents told us that they tried to catch the animal using ropes, before it ran away. We received information about the animal at 3.30am on Sunday from Sivanandapuram near Saravanampatti.”
The department deployed more staff in Sivanandapuram on Sunday to rescue the animal, which remains elusive. “It will not be easy to drive it back to the reserve forest as it is 10km away from the forest. We can’t tranquillise it at night. We plan to dart it on Monday morning after getting permission from the chief wildlife warden,” said the official.