Jumbos go home - Times of India

BANGALORE: The herd of 15 wild elephants which created tension in Anekal and the surrounding areas on Monday, have returned to the forests of Tamil Nadu. State forest department officials told TOI they've received information from their counterparts in Tamil Nadu, and the jumbos were last spotted in the Devarabetta forest range on Tuesday morning. With this, people in Electronics City, Sarjapur, Dommasandra and many villages in Anekal heaved a sigh of relief. They had a close shave with wild elephants on Monday, which left two villagers injured. Later in the day, the elephants had reached Thally, near Denkanikottai, from where they are believed to have started before entering Karnataka, said Deepak Sarmah, PCCF (wildlife). C Venkatesh, ACF, Bangalore South Range, said despite repeated efforts from forest officials on Monday night, the elephants refused to cross the Bangalore-Hosur highway. "We made sure vehicular traffic on the highway was blocked and asked residents to switch off their lights as well. The elephants once attempted to cross the highway, but the villagers assembled there disturbed them by switching on their torches," he added. Venkatesh said the elephants then camped near a place called Neralur for the night. At this point, forest officials decided to resume operations in the morning. "However, around 2.30am, realizing there was no human presence, the elephants crossed NH-7 at Attibele. At 7.30am, they were spotted near Muthyalamaduvu on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, before vanishing into the Devarabetta forest range in Tamil Nadu," he added. On the loose in the past few days, the elephants had killed four persons in Kolar and Bangalore Rural districts. They had entered Karnataka from Krishnagiri forest range of Tamil Nadu through Malur taluk. Though six trained elephants, two from Bannerghatta and four from Mysore, were called to assist forest officials in chasing away the wild jumbos, only three were used for the operation. Vanaraja from Bannerghatta was the first to arrive, followed by Abhimanyu and Arjuna, who arrived on Monday night to help out. Hoax sightings in Sarjapur Residents of Sarjapur and the surrounding villages raised tension levels when they called up forest officials in Anekal on Tuesday, saying they had spotted four elephants around 10am. Some callers said they spotted them near a eucalyptus plantation, while others said they saw them heading towards a lake nearby. Forest officials sent a team of guards for a spot inspection. "After carrying out a thorough survey, we confirmed there was no trace of elephants," said a forest official. Back on track Asked how the elephants found their way back, environmentalist Naveen KS said it was common for elephants to cover long distances in search of food. "Usually, there's a leader in the herd who leads the way, and is aware of the routes. Only when there is human intervention, do they lose their routes out of panic. Once the disturbance dies out, they resume their journey. It's for this reason that elephants go on long journeys late at night or during the early morning hours," he added. A senior forest official said elephants get confused if they find disruptions in the form of buildings or other manmade structures on their 'natural path'. "Imagine there was a forest or a lake bed area where the elephants had wandered five years ago. If the same is converted in to a layout or an estate, the locality confuses and irritates them," he added. Schools resume Some schools which had suspended classes on Monday fearing an attack by elephants, resumed classes on Tuesday. via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFJ9NLxh5kAmVl31RxJ3wpGldceqw&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Jumbos-go-home/articleshow/20769011.cms

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