The story of a wild tusker Sidda and his fight for survival is intriguing. This 50-year-old tusker, who will soon be a crop rider, was earlier hated by the surrounding villagers. This tusker used to travel from Savandurga forest in Ramnagara district and Bannerghatta National Park near Bengaluru to enter the park chasing the tamed elephants there. He was then identified and nicknamed as Sidda by the forest officials who use to chase him away.
His story is heartrending. He is in the backwaters of Manchanabele dam just 30 kms from the silicon city Bengaluru to cope with the pain after he broke his front right leg last month. For 42 days, he has been suffering and the villagers and animal activists are providing food with the help of forest department officials.
Once a terror in the surrounding villages, Sidda is now getting help from villagers. It was certainly a jumbo task to get the right treatment for the injured elephant, but much of heavy lifting was done by fellow elephants brought from Mysuru for the purpose.
A team of veterinary doctors in a mammoth task succeeded in rescuing ‘Sidda’ which was suffering from various ailments and staying in the water formore than 40 days. It was on Saturday when the doctors commenced treatment on this jumbo in the backwaters of Manchanabele dam.
A team comprising officials from Karnataka, Kerala and Assam examined Sidda’s health. The elephant has been limping due to injuries for the past two months. It was given two tranquilisation shots.
Sidda’s front right leg is wounded, swollen and infected as a result of pus formation. He is also battling eye problems and has developed an allergic reaction owing to being in the water continuously.
According to officials, he was anaemic as his weight has drastically fallen. Forest veterinarians Arun Zakaria from Kerala and Kushal Kumar Sharma from Assam are treating Sidda.
A State team, led by Deputy Conservator of Forests D Manjunath is assisting them. The Forest Department has also pressed two elephants ‘Gajendra’ and ‘Harsha’ to help the team.
According to doctors, the injured animal might take a minimum of 15 days to improve in health. The department will keep a round-the-clock vigil on him, besides preventing it from entering the water. Arrangements for fodder, water and medical treatment will be done at the spot, said a senior officer.
According to forest officials, he was badly injured after falling into a ditch near the Big Banyan Tree on the outskirts of Bengaluru about two months ago.
“We operated on him and along with antibiotics, we have also given him intravenous saline,” said Dr KK Sharma of the Guwahati Veterinary College, Assam. He was kept under observation.
Karnataka Forest Minister Ramanath Rai said the department did not immediately shift Sidda, for treatment, on the advice of experts. Speaking to reporters, Rai said it was advised that the elephant should not be moved in a sedated state as there were chances of the pachyderm suffering further injuries. Sidda was responding well to treatment by doctors in the last two days, he said.
The Minister also announced that the Government had effected a 10-fold increase in the compensation for victims of man-animal conflict. While compensation for those with a permanent disability had been hiked from Rs50,000 to Rs5 lakh, for partial disability it had been increased from Rs20,000 to Rs2.5 lakh.