COIMBATORE: Rohini, an elephant who has spent most of her life in illegal possession of a man in Rajapalayam, reached Anamalai along with Virudhunagar forest staff to join the 48-day-long annual rejuvenation camp for elephants at Kozhikamuthi.
The pachyderm will be kept in isolation for a week, so veterinarians can assess her health, for the safety of the other captive animals being maintained at Kozhikamuthi and Chinnar, Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) field director D Ganesan decided.
Rohini was in the possession of S Mohammed Yusuf for several years without approval from the forest department. She had been bought from Karnataka forest department when she was six years old by Kannaraja, executive officer of Bagavathiamman temple. Kannaraja was given an ownership certificate on conditions that he would not sell or barter the elephant to anyone. However, he gave Rohini to Yusuf as he was unable to maintain her, sources said.
In 2007, Virudhunagar forest department sent Yusuf a notice asking him to submit a licence for possessing the animal. He reportedly failed to reply. Later, he approached the Madurai bench of Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail. The court dismissed his case as there was no FIR against him. At this point, the forest department told the court that Yusuf had the elephant illegally and sought its intervention in handing the elephant over to the department. The court ordered Yusuf to hand Rohini over to the forest department by December 7. The department was told to take her to the elephant camp. She reached Anamalai on Friday. On Saturday, Animal Husbandry department joint director and a well-known veterinarian NS Manokaran gave her a check-up.
“We will allow her to mingle with other elephants only after she is free from any disease. This will be known only after assessing her health,” Ganesan said.