Forest officials of Dalma wildlife sanctuary are frantically searching for experts to fix radio collars on elephants as funds for the purpose have been returned twice. From 2007, the Centre has been giving Rs 8 lakh per year to the state to get the radio tracking system rolling. Senior officials at Dalma wildlife sanctuary said they had approached the Centre for funds to start the project to keep track on tuskers. "But when the funds finally arrived, personnel who could do the job were missing. It was necessary to arrange for experts who can carry out radio collaring of elephants but we could not spot such people,' said a senior forest officer at Dalma sanctuary. To fix a radio collar on a wild animal, it has to be tranquillised. The expert then ties a collar with a radio transmitter around the animal's neck or leg. The collars are used to keep track of the movements and study the behaviour of wild animals from a distance. In elephants, the collars are fixed on the leader of the herd so that the movement of the group can be monitored. Divisional forest officer of the sanctuary Shidharth Trivedi said they received the central funds first in 2007. The officials approached the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India for experts. But there were few people proficient to do the job. "We came to know that there was a limited number of experts in this field in our country. Moreover, most of the experts are busy with foreign assignments or other work,' said the officer. Trivedi said to put radio collars on animals in a sanctuary, a team of experts has to be engaged in the process for at least a year. According to their plans, the expert will start monitoring the tuskers and then train officials at Dalma to use the equipment and keep track of the animals. But all plans have been shelved as the sanctuary has not got the nod from the Centre because they have not been able to appoint a tracker. The divisional forest officer explained that they would get permission to go ahead with the project from the Centre's Project Elephant only after appointing the expert. "Once the Centre approved our proposal for radio collaring elephants in Dalma, we will continue to get money until the project is completed. But now we need permission for radio collaring and getting the nod depends on commitments from experts,' said Trivedi. Dalma forest officials said fixing radio collars not only help them learn about animals but, in case of elephants, the system can be used to warn villages that a herd was heading towards them. As the number of wild animals are dwindling, most countries are resorting to radio collaring to keep track of the animals and save them.