3 days ago
- Health
- United News of India
Forest Department treats elephant, released it back into the wild
Palakkad, Aug 8 (UNI) Palakkad Forest Department officials provided medical treatment for the injured eye to a 30 -year-old male elephant, popularly known as Palakkad Tusker (PT-5) or Churali Komban, on Friday.
The wild tusker was tranquilized for eye treatment and later released into the interior forest of Walayar range after a three-hour long procedure to address vision impairment. A radio collate was also attached to its neck to monitor its movement in coming days.
The tusker had been suffering from a serious injury to its right eye,which had caused vision problems. Over the past month, the elephant had been creating panic in residential areas of Malampuzha and Kanjikode, damaging crops and farmlands,leading to concerns to the local residents. Following this, Forest Minister A K Saseedharan directed officials to provide proper medical care.
A 15-member team led by Veterinary surgeon Dr Arun Zachriah carried out the operation. They were assisted by two kumki- elephants named Vikraman and Bharathan, brought from Wayanad district.
The team located the injured in the morning at Manthuruthy near Kanjikode. Dr Arun Zachriah successfully tranquilized the tusker with a dart shot at around 0800 am.
Within 15 minutes, tusker went into a standing unconscious stage. During the examination, the medical team observed pus and eye drops coming from the injured right eye, likely caused by a metal object or pellet shot.
Speaking to the media persons after the operation, Dr Arun Zachria stated "the health condition of the tusker is stable. Further treatment will be provided after 20 days of observation by the forest team including monitoring its ability to forage in the wild. If necessary, we will consider shifting the elephant to the Elephant kroll at Dhoni, Palakkad for more intensive care.
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