Tusks missing from carcass which was riddled with bullet holes

There is fear of a revival of poaching in a sanctuary once the playground of notorious brigand Veerappan. A giant tusker was found dead in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. The highly decomposed carcass, which has at least 15 bullet wounds and no tusks, was found by Forest Department officials on Sunday at Kothanur Range.

Officials suspect that the tusker was shot dead 15 to 20 days ago. Sources in the Forest Department said the poachers seemed to be professionals and had come fully prepared for the kill as they had used acid to burn the skin and flesh of the elephant to gorge out the tusks.

Sources believe the lone tusker was tracked to the valley where it may have been roaming in search of water. Officials counted three bullets in the head, and 12 in the torso. “It could be a local tracker who led poachers to the elephant. Professionals from poaching gangs could have come from outside the area,” said a senior Forest Department official.

Village fair

The elephant was found dead barely 4 km from an anti-poaching camp in the region. Officials said poachers could have sneaked into the forest during the Chikkaluru jatre which took place about 15 days ago. “About 1 lakh people come through the forest from Mutthati to Chikkaluru during the event. For a week, our staff had kept vigil on the jatre. The gang must have used this window to kill the elephant,” said the official. Forest officials said they were banking on forensic and mobile call records to zero in on the suspects.

‘Failure to curb poaching’

While poaching has come down in the past decade, conservationists have flayed officials for their “apathy” in putting an end to it completely.

Officials, however, said there were hundreds of country-made weapons still present in areas around the sanctuary which have not been identified or seized. There are about 45 anti-poaching camps, but that is reckoned to be grossly insufficient to monitor to the forests spread over nearly 1,027 sq km. Besides, it has a porous border with Tamil Nadu with high movement of people and traffic, making it difficult to monitor the terrain, they added.