Friday, May 08, 2009

‘Killer’ tusker no longer violent

P. Venugopal, The Hindu

April 20, 2009
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Wildlife officials tracking a tusker in musth, suspected to be the killer of seven wild elephants in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in the recent weeks, report that the animal is no longer violent.

Trackers have been behind this tusker since March 27 when they first saw it roaming alone in the area where the killings had occurred.

Among the seven elephants that had died due to injuries sustained in suspected fights with this tusker between the last week of February and first week of April were five adult cow elephants, a sub-adult cow elephant and a sub-adult bull elephant.

The tusker is still displaying characteristic signs of being in musth, a periodic condition when testosterone levels shoot up in the elephant making it sexually active and aggressive. But its aggression now is within the limits of a normal bull elephant in mating mode, an official in the team of trackers told The Hindu on Sunday.
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