Though the forest officials managed to spot the PM2 frequently, they were unable to tranquilise it as the animal was spotted along with another Makhna at the Tamil Nadu Kerala border. Hence drones have been deployed to locate the exact spot of the animal.
Coimbatore: Nilgiris: The Gudalur Forest department officials have continued with the operation for the eleventh straight day to capture the problematic Pandalur Makna (PM2) elephant which has been causing havoc in the Devala area near Gudalur.
Drones have been pressed into service to spot the exact location of the PM2 elephant and capture it with the help of tranquilizers.
The elephant named PM2 had killed a woman Pappathy onNovember 19 and damaged several houses in the Devala area following which the residents of the area staged a roadblock demanding to capture the elephant and relocate it.
Heeding the demands of the villagers, the forest department officials decided to capture and relocate the wild animal. However, it moved away into the Kerala forest area when the operation commenced on November 26.
The forest team, which had waited for the elephant to roam back into the Tamil Nadu forest area, had spotted the elephant near Devala a few days back, but the elephant had again moved away to Kolikolli tribal hamlet near Puliamparai.
Even though an effort to tranquillize the elephant was made yesterday, it couldn't materialise as the elephant had moved into a sloppy area.
The Gudalur forest team is waiting and watching the elephant to tranquillise it in a place, which would be congenial for transporting it with the help of a truck.
