BENGALURU: On Tuesday, the Mandya district government, forest officials, and veterinarians collaborated to save a 13-year-old tusker that had been trapped in a 150-meter-long canal close to a power production facility in Shivanasamudra of Malavalli taluk of Mandya district since Sunday. However, a drone will monitor the rescued jumbo continually for almost a month to assess its condition.
Veterinarians treated the tusker after it was rescued before it could stand again and go back to the jungles. The retrieved giant was considered to be in fair health, with the exception of the moisture content in its legs and trunk after being immersed in water since Sunday. During the rescue operation, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve veterinarian Ramesh stated, “The moisture content in jumbo’s legs and trunk will disappear in a couple of days.”
It was risky to dart a jumbo, especially in water, as water could enter its truck and enter the sedated tusker’s mouth. The wildlife veterinarian said, “We made sure the trunk was lifted as soon as the jumbo was sedated while a structure was made to stop water from flowing to the sedated jumbo’s mouth.” Due to the uneven terrain, the tusker entered the 70-foot canal through one of the gates of a power generation station after going to slake its thirst. Due to the canal’s shutdown on both banks, the jumbo has remained buried since Sunday.
Since one side led to the turbine and the other to the gates of the power plant, the jumbo had no way out. “We planned for darting the trapped jumbo with no other option,” a veterinarian who participated in the rescue operation said. To help forest workers rescue the stuck jumbo, an infrastructure company in Bengaluru sent one of its high-rise building cranes to lift it out of the canal. To ensure Jumbo’s safety in the canal, water flow from reservoirs such as Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS), Kabini, and power plants was reduced.
A tusker who had been stuck in a canal since Sunday was rescued in Mandya
