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and veterinarian rushed to the spot and joined the other three immo- bilizing teams who had been tracking the elephants. Management of crowd and media was a challenging task as elephants were terrified and were charging people getting close to them.
Ultimately both the tuskers of nearly the same age and around 8 feet were darted with sedatives inside a banana grove at about 2.15 PM in standing sedation. After sedation, the team restrained and tethered both the elephants with chains and strong ropes to trees. To trans- port the immobilized elephants the local commercial LPT trucks and a Hydra crane were arranged. As the truck could not be brought to the site of restraint due to narrow passages inside village, the possi- bility of walking the elephants to the truck was explored. Local people extended their help, however after a few steps the tuskers squatted and lied sedated on the ground.
Veterinary doctors from the Block Animal Resource Development De- partment provided veterinary care and decided to let the elephants sleep and rest. Additional dosage of sedatives were administered at night and physiological parameters were periodically monitored as it was not possible to transport the elephants to the trucks in the dark. Flood lights with generator were arranged at night and local Police Force and Civil Administration provided all necessary support. In the morning, two JCBs were hired and by 8.15 AM on 13.02.2019, a 1.5 Km. temporary road was made to reach the elephants. Two tractors fitted with large trolley were brought close to the elephants. The tuskers were tied and heavy duty belts were passed underneath their body and within an hour each elephant were placed on separate tractor trollies with the help of the JCBs.
The Hydra crane and trucks were kept ready near the state highway for loading and transportation of elephants. Tractors reached the loca- tions within 45 minutes and the elephants were lifted by hydra crane and loaded on the truck at 10.45 AM from Jagatballavpur, Howrah and driven to Bandwan, Purulia near Jharkhand border, a distance of about 375 Km. Both the elephants were kept under sedation in later- al recumbency without any problem for nearly 10 hours to reach the release site inside a forest patch at about 8.30 PM on 13.02.2019.
Unloading ramps were already made, so elephants were again mildly sedated and taken out of the trucks with help of JCB. All chains and ropes were removed and vehicles were taken out of the location. The elephants regained their senses within 2hr.30mins and moved deep into the forests. After two days the larger tusker moved to Jharkhand forests and the other roamed about another couple of days at Band- wan forests then followed its companion.
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