The 17-day search and rescue operation of the problematic wild elephant, Pandalur Makhna-PM2 came to an end on Thursday afternoon after the Forest Department officials tranquilised and captured the jumbo. Makhna, a Tamil word is used for tuskless elephants who are known to be aggressive and dangerous.

The creature was captured in Tamil Nadu’s Gudalur forest division in Nilgiris district. Following this, a radio collar was attached to it and it was released far away from human habitat at Congress Mattam in Sigur forest.

The elephant had been straying frequently from Kerala into Puliyamparai and Pandalur areas from August 2020 onwards and was destroying houses and eating rice and other food items.

Veterinarians shot the first sedative dart at 2 p.m. and followed it with another one at 2.30 in the Needle Rock area, Puliyamparai. With the creature becoming semi-conscious, it was tied to a tree with the help of four kumkis (trained captive elephants). Using earth movers, the terrain was flattened to enable the captured jumbo to get into the specially designed vehicle.

Multiple teams had been employed for direct sighting and tracking of footprints of the elephant. Staff sat atop 10 machans at night to monitor its movement. Even drones were brought in to trace the creature.

Trackers have been keeping a watch on PM2 since November 21 when Srinivas R. Reddy, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden directed the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve’s Field Director, D Venkatesh to capture the animal after a 58-year-old woman had been killed by it.

Personnel from anti depredation squad, rapid response team and anti-poaching watchers had assisted in the search for PM2.