COIMBATORE: A 32-year-old kumki elephant at the Chadivayal camp was injured after a wild elephant went rampage. Cheran was attacked by a jumbo in masth and has wounds on his back and leg.
The tusker ventured into the camp around 1.30 am on Thursday and attacked Cheran, who had been tied to a tree, from behind.
The loud trumpeting of the two elephants alerted forest staff sleeping nearby and they rushed to chase away the tusker with crackers.
According to Forest Range Officer (Boluvampatti) C Palaniraja, things could have been worse had the wild jumbo entered the camp and attacked Cheran from the front.
With he being attacked from behind, he was only wounded on the back and left leg. Since the tusks passed between Cheran’s legs, it was only a minor injury. Besides, Cheran is also in musth, he adds.
They have been applying ointment on the wound, based on the advise of Animal Husbandry Joint Director N S Manokaran who is expected to arrive in town to monitor Cheran’s health on Thursday night or Friday. Palaniraja says that the wild jumbo was spotted near the camp over the past two days; every time, he was turned back into the forest.
On Thursday, he somehow managed to enter the camp. He denied claims that he was the same elephant that attacked kumki Sujay (46) in the third week of January 2017. The incident led to the kumki losing one of his tusks.