The Forest Department officials began an operation to install radio collars on nine wild elephants roaming in parts of Belur, Alur and Sakleshpur taluks on Friday.
The operation will continue up to December 15. The department has made arrangements for the operations by bringing in nine tamed elephants from elephant camps.
D. Mohan Kumar, DCF of Hassan Division, will lead the team of officers engaged in the operation. The team has been assisted by veterinarians and caretakers of elephants.
The operation to radio-collar elephants was supposed to be conducted in August–September this year. However, it was postponed following the death of H.H. Venkatesh, an outsourced employee of the department, in an elephant attack during the operation in Alur taluk on August 31.
Mr. Mohan Kumar has told the media that this time the department made suitable arrangements for the safety of the staff during the operations. The team would capture elephants after firing tranquillizer darts. Radio collars would be installed on the wild elephants so that their movements could be tracked later.
