Rescued elephant tranquillized again (Bangladesh)

Author(s)

The Daily Star

Date Published

The rescued wild elephant which yesterday broke its shackles tied to a mango tree in Koyra village in Sarishabari upazila was again tranquillised.

After the animal was tranquillised, he was now chained to a log piled into the ground in a field, which is around half a kilometre away from the earlier place, said Ashim Kumar Mallick, wildlife inspector of the forest department.  

The elephant, which has been named as Bangabahadur, broke the shackles around 5:00am and took a dip in a nearby pond. Then the elephant wandered around half a kilometre.

As the animal started roaming without chains, the elephant rescue team again decided to tranquillise him so that they could bring it under control, said the forest official.

Mostafizur Rahman, assistant veterinary surgeon of Bangabandhu Safari Park in Cox’s Bazar, tranquillised the elephant around 8:00am with a metal dart.

They administered a low dose to the animal so that it could stand after being tranquillised, Ashim said.

Bangabahadur was being given light food like sugarcane, banana and banana plants, he added.

They were planning to take the elephant today to the road, which is over one kilometre away from the field, to lift it onto a truck to carry it to Bangabandhu Safari Park in Gazipur, said Tapon Kumar Dey, chief executive director of Nature Conservation Society, who is leading the 17-member rescue team of the forest department.

The elephant was first tranquillised on August 11.

Bangabahadur got separated from its herd in Assam of India and entered Bangladesh territory on June 27 through Chilmari upazila of Kurigram, floating with the currents of the Brahmaputra river.

 

http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/rescued-elephant-tranquillised-again-1270012

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