COIMBATORE: A team of four veterinarians along with the help of elephant trackers and a wild turned kumki elephant Chinnathambi, tranquilised and captured a makhna elephant, which has travelled over 100 km in the last two days within the city and outskirts, near Perur on Thursday evening. The animal will be released at Eluthukkalpudur in Periyanacikenpalayam forest range.
The 45-year-old animal had left the staff of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and Coimbatore division worried as it was moving towards farmlands near residential areas on Tuesday and Wednesday. The animal moved behind a private college near Perur at 2 pm on Thursday through Kuniyamuthur, Puttuvikki bridge and Selvapuram creating panic among the locals.
The elephant was tranquilised on Thursday afternoon by veterinarians and two elephant handlers from Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in ATR tied the animal’s legs. The animal was monitored using a drone camera before being sedated. The four veterinarians are A Sugumar, Prakash, Sadhasivam and NS Manokaran (retired).
Later, the team, led by Conservator of Forests and ATR Field Director S Ramasubramanian, loaded the elephant inside a truck after over one hour of struggle. Even Chinnathambi was unable to push the Makhna into the truck due to its weight. However, the delay in finalising the place of release was a setback in the operation. Though the animal was pushed in at 7.30 pm, officials are sceptical of releasing the animal in ATR, where it was released earlier or the Nilgiris, where the Pandalur makhna was released, fearing backlash from the people.
However, after the release, the animal shifted to Kerala where it was caught by the officials there.
Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy told TNIE, “We have no plans to convert the animal into a captive. We will release it in the forest again. This is the second time the animal was tranquilised within a month.”