The elephant which was captured in Wayanad on February 2 and transported to Karnataka after an hours-long mission died, said Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran on Saturday. The Minister termed the death as 'utmost painful' and said that the animal's death shocked everyone.
The tusker locally known as 'Thanneer Komban' received tranquilizer shots twice before being loaded onto a truck with the help of kumki elephants for transport to Karnataka's Bandipur on Friday night. Earlier, it strayed into Wayanad's Mananthavady town, causing panic among the public.
"After reaching Bandipur in the night, it was decided to conduct an examination before releasing the jumbo back into the forests," he told reporters, as per PTI.
However, the minister stated that the elephant was already dead before examination.
Further, Saseendran emphasized the need for a post-mortem to determine the exact cause of death and cautioned against speculation. He clarified that the state forest department's mission to capture the elephant was transparent and similar directions were provided to conduct the rest of the proceedings. He also informed that Karnataka authorities agreed to include a Kerala representative in their post-mortem expert team.
On Friday, the elephant was captured 16 hours after entering Kerala. Four darting attempts were made with two of them turning out to be successful, according to a senior forest official. A large crowd, along with locals and significant security presence, witnessed the elephant being loaded onto the truck with the help of kumki elephants after 10 pm.