Coimbatore: Forest department's operation 'Arisi Raja' suffered a setback after one of the two kumki elephants brought to Pollachi for capturing the so-called wild tusker, 'Arisi Raja', went out of the mahout's control on Tuesday morning and remained ferocious.
'Arisi Raja', the nick name given to a wild tusker after the wild male elephant allegedly started to enter villages including Ardhanaripalayam close to buffer zone of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and frequently gobbled raw rice in huge quantities after breaking open the kitchen windows of tribal
hamlets.'
The same elephant during 2017 June lost its way and traveled more than 25-km from the forest area belong to Coimbatore forest division and reached a private land covered with thick bushes near Podanur-Vellalore in suburbs of Coimbatore; the pachyderm then trampled upon four persons at Podanur when they crossed its way during early hours.
The same day it was tranquilized and translocated to a core forest area in Ulandy forest range in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR).
Officials strongly believe that the same 'problematic' elephant had started to visit nearby human habitats in Navamalai frequently for eating rice and tramples humans when distributed.
Following the latest protest by the relatives of Radhakrishnan who was allegedly trampled by the same elephant, the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) Sanjay Kumar Srivatsava issued an order to capture the elephant and keep it captivity following the instructions of elephant expert Ajay Desai.
Acting on the order, around 75 forest department staffs were deployed at Navamalai-Arthanaripalayam spot along with tranquilizing experts; to attract the elephant towards the plains for tranquilizing, the forest department has kept rice which is one of its favorite menu. However the plan went awry after a heavy downpour on Sunday and Monday night, making the tusker move inside the thick forest.
Meanwhile, 'Pari', one of the Kumki elephants ran into problems on Tuesday, as he turned ferocious and sped. The mahout after a great struggle brought him under control. Now 'Karim' the other Kumki will be kept at the spot and 'Pari' dispatched to Top Slip, said Forest officials.
