A male wild elephant that was translocated by the Forest Department from a village near Thondamuthur to Manthirimattam in Manabololly forest range of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) was found dead on Wednesday.
A team, which had been monitoring the elephant with signals from the elephant’s radio collar, found the animal dead around 2.30 p.m. near a stream in Manambolly range.
The tusker, believed to have killed four people and regularly raided farm crops, was captured from Ichukkuzhi near Thondamuthur on October 17. It was lodged in a kraal at Varagaliar in ATR and released into the wild at Manthirimattam on November 12.
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D. Venkatesh, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of ATR, said the tusker had been grazing in the wild in a two-km-radius around the place of release for the past two weeks. It moved for a total distance of 17.50 km within the two km radius from the date of release. The tracking team was getting its location update every 30 minutes.
