COIMBATORE: Wild tusker Rolex that was captured in Coimbatore last month and released into the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) died after a fall on Wednesday evening.

The 40-year-old tusker, a habitual raider of farms adjoining the forest area, had officials and people on tenterhooks for long, having crushed to death at least four persons. Capturing the elephant had turned out to be a daunting task for the Forest department as it would retreat into the woods even at the slightest provocation.

The elephant was finally captured in Thondamuthur near Coimbatore on October 16, and five kumkis brought from the ATR and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve were deployed for the task.

It was lodged in a kraal at Varagaliyar in ATR for 25 days, before being shifted to Manthiri Mattam forest area, where it was fitted with a radio collar and released into the forest area. A team was monitoring its movement.

Field director of ATR D Venkatesh said the elephant was moving towards a stream when it slipped and fell. “Our staff that saw its fall rushed to the motionless elephant and found it had died in the impact,” he said.

A post-mortem is likely to be done on Thursday.

This is the second incident in a week that a captured elephant has fallen to death. Wild elephant Radhakrishnan, captured in Gudalur and released into Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tirunelveli, died in a fall on November 18.