Team Mangalorean - Airport Beat

Mangalore: In a lighter vein, it can be said that the lone bison which trespassed into the runway area of the city's airport on Thursday has either fallen in love with the Adyapady  ambience or has simply relished the media limelight it got.

The mighty, muscled four-legged intruder was chased away by the security and forest personnel at its first visit. Either way, it is said to have jumped over the 9-ft-high concertina fencing put up around the airport.

The bison created a flutter yet again on late Saturday, June 2 evening. It made a repeat appearance near the runway around 7-30 pm. On Thursday, its entry, a brief scare apart, had not disturbed any flight schedules. But on Saturday, a flight was to take off shortly thereafter.

The staff in charge of shooing away birds on the flight track had an additional duty of warding off the bullying bison. It is said to have sped into a woody area near the airport. It appears to have identified the cliff, where the fencing is comparatively lesser in height, through which to access the restricted area to 'land' near the runway and to 'depart' when told it is unwanted.

Speaking to our correspondent, residents of Adyapady, Kenjar and Karambar, most of whom are engaged in agriculture, expressed surprise about the presence of a bison in their territory, while tigers and leopards have made rare appearances in and around Permude and Shibaroor.

A senior citizen said that bisons were found only in Karkala taluk and around Naravi. This could have strayed away from the herd from the grey zone between Mangalore and Karkala taluk. A lone bison had appeared in Nitte about a year ago. The same could have moved over here, he said.

When the bison was spotted inside the airport area on Thursday, forest officials and animal handlers from Pilikula zoo were requisitioned immediately. They made an attempt to surround and capture it by shooting tranquillizer shots. But it gave them a slip. In the attempt, Vikram, the scientific officer from Pilikula, had slipped to the ground and got injured.

Now a round-the-clock vigil may be necessary to keep track of the bison's movements.