Indian forest officials tranquilise, capture rogue rice-raiding tusker 'Arikomban'
Indian forest officials capture rogue rice-raiding elephant 'Arikomban'
A rogue elephant named 'Arikomban', which broke into homesand ration shopsto steal rice and caused massive destruction in the southern Indian state of Kerala, has been tranquilised and shifted to the deep interiors of Periyar Tiger Reserve. In the local Malayalam language, 'Arikomban' stands for 'rice tusker'.
Dr Arun Zachariah, the senior veterinary officer who led the team of forest officials behind this capture, said, “Arikomban was brought to Kumali in the Idukki district around 121 kilometres away from Chinnakkanal. Section 144 was declared in the Kumali area and restricted electricity supply on the way it was transported.”
Another official said that the elephant has been radio-collared and that the signals from it will be monitored from the tiger reserve.
"We are getting signals from the radio collar. His location will be monitored from the tiger reserve. He is very healthy," he said.
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Sharing details about the 'Arikomban' mission, a forest official said that on the first day of the operation, their team 'wasn't lucky' and that on the second day, they were able to tranquilise the tusker after another elephant, who was Arikomban's competitor, brought the rice-favouring elephant before the forest officials.
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Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran, on April 19, directed the forest officials to discover a new place for shifting the rice-eating tusker after it created destruction in the Idukki district.
The Kerala High Court asked the state government on April 20 to relocate the wild elephant within a week and stated that if the tusker is not relocated within a week, it will be transferred to Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary.
Talking to reports, the Kerala forest minister said, “As a government, we have to act according to the decisions of the courts of justice. We will not shy away from it. That would not be good practice. It is not a democratic practice. The officials of the forest department have been directed to find a new place to shift the Arikomban. They will give it by tomorrow morning. It will inform the High Court which is the best proposal”.
“We do not intend to prolong it indefinitely. Had elephant lovers not questioned the government’s decision, a solution could have been found by the 12th of last month. Unfortunately, it couldn’t,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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