TIRUNELVELI: Dispelling social media rumours on the death of Arikomban, the elephant that was translocated from Theni district’s Cumbum forest to Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, KMTR administration on Monday said the tusker is healthy and that its movement and foraging pattern are found to be good.
Conservator of Forests and Field Director, KMTR in Tirunelveli, Marimuthu termed the reports on social media regarding the death of Arikomban as totally false and malicious. “Since Arikomban’s release in KMTR on June 6 last year, a technical team has been monitoring it continuously. The elephant is found to have settled down well in Upper Kodayar dam area.
Though homing behaviour was observed initially, later it was found that the habituation of the tusker in human habitations did not occur, and it is sighted away from humans. This shows his behaviour change from crop raiding to foraging in the wild. At present, the tusker is moving in and around Upper Kodaiyar dam site. Its movement is monitored through the signals obtained from the radio collar fixed on it,” he said.
He further added the movement pattern of Arikomban is approximately 3km per day. “A few elephant herds with calves have been seen to be moving in close proximity to Arikomban. The tusker was sighted at Muthukuzhivayal area on January 28 by the deputy director of KMTR along with the security audit team from the Union government,” Marimuthu said in an update submitted to his higher officials.