COIMBATORE: Two captive elephants, including a wild-turned-male captive that had earlier killed four people, were brought to the newly opened Chadivayal elephant camp in Boluvampatti on Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old male elephant 'Muthu,' along with 17-year-old female elephant 'Cauvery,' were shifted from the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in the Ulanthy forest range of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) to the Chadivayal camp in forest department trucks around 11.30 pm. After special poojas, the duo were taken inside the camp, which was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on December 30, 2025.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department had named the wild elephant 'Muthu,' which was earlier nicknamed ‘Arisi Raja’ by local residents as it was attracted to the smell of rice. The elephant was captured at Arthanaripalayam near Pollachi on November 14, 2019, after it had killed four people, including an eight-year-old girl.
Cauvery was also the wild elephant before it was captured by the veterinarian team, as it was one of the six elephants in Thiruvannamalai district in 2013.
Boluvampatti Forest Range officer K. Jayachandran said, “Muthu will be engaged to drive back a wild elephant that is frequently visiting the groves and damaging the crops, inside the forest. Cauvery will not be used for such an operation. We will bring more male elephants to Chadivayal as per the instructions of D. Venkatesh, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of ATR.
The officials said that they have yet to decide on allowing the tourists to witness the feeding and other activities of these two elephants similar to the practice followed in Kozhikamuthi in ATR and Thepakkadu elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).