Having failed to retrieve an elephant stranded in Bangladesh due to crowding by locals, Assam forest department officials have imparted training to their counterparts in Bangladesh on tranquilising the jumbo.
"Our veterinarian has given training to their (Bangaladesh) veterinarians on how to use the tranquilising gun. They will now tranquilise the elephant and put it under captivity temporarily. Later on we might try to bring it back," state Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Bikash Brahma told PTI.
A three-membered team of Assam forest department had gone to Bangladesh last week to bring back the elephant stranded in the neighbouring country after being washed away by the strong currents of Brahmaputra river.
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"They failed to tranquilise it because it was in riverine area and lot of people crowded the place so it did not came out of the water. And if it comes out, then also there will be a chaos due to the presence of so many people," Brahma said.
The wild female elephant has been moving in the riverine areas of Bangladesh Kurigram and neighbouring districts ever since it was flown away across the border on June 27 from Assam's Dhubri district.
Having separated from its herd, the solitary jumbo is now under severe distress and causing damage to property and crops in Bangladesh.
The Assam team comprising Goalpara divisional forest officer Md Suleman Uddin Choudhury, retired conservator of forests Rithesh Ch Bhattacharjee and veterinary professor Dr K K Sarma are scheduled to return to India tomorrow.
Officials said they have not given up on the task of bringing the wild animal back in the jungles of Assam.
