Angul: For the first time, the Odisha Forest Department has attached a radio collar to a tusker to monitor its movement. The department plans to attach radio collars to more pachyderms in the state to facilitate their treatment and safety.
According to reports, a tusker was shot by unidentified poachers in Chendipada forest on February 13 and following treatment, it was released into the Satkosia forest on Wednesday. The Forest Department released the elephant after its wounds were drying up. Before that, a radio collar was attached to the elephant’s body to monitor its movements closely.
Angul DFO Vivek Kumar said that the movement of the elephant will be monitored through the radio collar until it recovers completely. On the other hand, PCCF Sushant Nand informed that this is the first case in the state that a radio collar has been attached to the body of an elephant.
It is worth mentioning here that this elephant, which was shot at in the forest area of Ashtamalli, entered the Chendipada forest on February 13. Three days later, following examination through drones and binoculars, it became clear that the elephant had a deep cut on its forehead and was bleeding profusely.
Despite the arrival of a medical team from Satkoshia, it was not possible to tranquilize the elephant. Another team led by the DFO arrived in the forest and tranquilized the elephant near Chendipada Sapoisahi. The elephant was then treated by veterinarians from Nandankanan, Kapilas of Dhenkanal, and Satkosia.
After five days of treatment, the wounds dried up and the health of the elephant improved. At around 5:30 pm on Wednesday, the elephant was released. As the elephant had not fully recovered, a radio collar was attached to the animal to monitor its movements.
