Shivamogga : A tragic incident unfolded on Sunday morning near Kaspadi village in Sagar taluk, exposing critical systemic failures in wildlife management, flawed highway mitigation, and severe administrative apathy after an adult female gaur died following a severe road accident on National Highway 69.According to Sagar division deputy conservator of forests (DCF) Mohammed Fayajuddin, the adult female gaur succumbed to its injuries around 5pm on Sunday. It might have been hit by a heavy vehicle. An autopsy was subsequently conducted by Dr Anand, a veterinarian deputed to Karnataka forest department.However, the incident has triggered widespread public outrage over the gross delay in emergency medical intervention, with the animal left suffering in agony for nearly 10 hours before passing away.On-the-spot evidence and official assessments revealed multiple contributing factors behind the fatal accident, highlighting an escalating threat to wildlife along the heavily trafficked road. Investigations uncovered that the forest department had illogically installed barbed wire fencing in the protected area—a measure criticised as a waste of resources that lacked basic strategic planning. The fencing abruptly halted at an edge that opened directly onto the highway, and multiple gaur footprints discovered at the site proved that the department’s barrier layout unintentionally directed the animals straight toward the road. The gaur’s herd jumped off a trench at the adjacent teakwood plantation and immediately crossed onto the Shivamogga-Sagar National Highway 69, leaving local fauna dangerously exposed in an area historically renowned as a prime habitat with a dense population of gaurs.The tragedy was compounded by an acute lack of emergency veterinary preparedness within the district. Despite immediate alerts from locals, neither Shivamogga zoo nor the Sakrebailu Elephant Camp had emergency wildlife veterinarians stationed locally to handle critical Schedule-I species rescues. Because local specialists were unavailable, authorities were forced to summon Dr Anand from the Chitradurga mini-zoo—who was also managing Dasara festival duty in Shivamogga. By the time the veterinarian arrived at the scene, time had elapsed, and the injured gaur had already succumbed to its multiple trauma injuries, sparking intense criticism over the district’s emergency response protocols.
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