Panaji: Goa forest officials ruled out using drones to track Omkar, fearing the noise and size of the unmanned aircraft could frighten the sub-adult elephant and trigger an unpredictable reaction. The elephant was, however, driven back to Maharashtra on Tuesday evening and is currently in Dongarpal.“Omkar became cooperative after resting. Since he was unfamiliar with the route, we escorted him by providing him with his preferred food,” a forest official told TOI.Following inter-departmental coordination, Goa forest department handed over the elephant to the Maharashtra forest department on Tuesday evening. Maharashtra officials have taken over the operation. Due to difficulties along the Sawantwadi route, a consensus was reached to proceed towards the Dongarpal side. The team is following the route used during the previous return operation.Earlier in the day, forest officials from Maharashtra were prepared to deploy drones from their side of the border to monitor Omkar’s movements. However, the proposal was not permitted in Goa as the drones available for the operation are “large and generate considerable noise”.Omkar had been moving through agricultural areas and damaging crops in Mopa and Tamboxem since Sunday, prompting forest officials to closely monitor his movements.While drones could provide an aerial view of the elephant’s location and movements, officials were concerned that flying a large, noisy drone close to the animal, particularly near human habitation, could disturb it.“Drones would scare him and cause the animal to panic,” the official said. “A startled elephant can become difficult to predict, making any unnecessary disturbance a potential risk for both the animal as well as the villagers.”
