In a tragic incident, 'Rowdy Ranga', an elephant of the Matthigodu Elephant Camp in Nagarhole, died after being hit by a private bus in the early hours of Monday. The incident took place around 3.30 am on the Virajpet-Bengaluru road, near the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.
According to a note by the Forest Department, Hunsuru division, the incident occurred due to the negligence of the driver of Kalpaka Travels bus, as he was found to be speeding on the road. Police officials from Ponnampet Police Station are investigating the incident. The bus was reportedly traveling from Kannur to Bengaluru and was being driven by Ismail Nalakath Bin Khadar, a 40-year-old driver hailing from Kannur.
46-year-old Ranga was severely injured in the incident in the hip and the back, while 35 passengers, traveling in the bus, escaped unharmed. Veterinary doctors from the Rajiv Gandhi National Park attended to the elephant.
However, in spite of attempts to treat Ranga, he breathed his last at around 7.30 am on Monday. Ranga was brought to the elephant camp in Nagarhole around three years ago from Bannerghatta National Park limits in Ramanagara.
A senior forest official explained that it was common for elephants to be left free in the night. "The elephants are fed at 5 pm and then they are let out and are fed the next morning. This is a common practice at the park. Incidents like these happen on this road. One of the common reasons is because of the increased traffic on the roads through Nagarhole following the ban on night traffic in Bandipur and Nagarhole roads,” says Kantharaju HC, a retired forest official.