KOZHIKODE: The elephant-man story emerging from Wayanad contrasts with that of the tragic death of a pregnant jumbo in Palakkad.
Here, a tusker -- over 25 years of age -- has become a favourite of forest watchers. They have christened him 'Kunjikuttan'.
The tusker has been raiding the plantations of Thottamoola under the Muthanga forest range for several years.
But, once the forest personnel ask him to go back, he obeys silently and retreats to the forest.
"There were occasions when we came dangerously close to him. But he never attacked. His nature so far has been clam and composed," says Prakashan P, the forest ranger at the Thottamoola forest station, who named the jumbo.
The ranger has seen the elephant straying into the plantation areas from the Achuthankolli- Vattathodi side over the past five years.
"Kunjikuttan is a fully grown tusker and should be over 25. One of his tusks is smaller than the other," he says.
According to another forest watcher, Binoy P S, unlike other straying pachyderms, Kunjikuttan prefers jackfruit and mangoes.
"He is not interested in coconut and banana. Jackfruit and mango are his favourites and this is the fruit season," says Binoy.
Another trait of the jumbo is that it retreats only through the path it took to come in.
"Once an elephant comes to know that there is something edible in an estate, it will never forget the place and would visit frequently," says Prakashan.
Binoy says that there are three or four aggressive jumbos in the same area. A couple of days back, a forest officer suffered an injury at Nenmenikunnu after a jumbo turned aggressive.
Catapult used to wean away jumbos
According to Amjith G, deputy range officer, Thottamoola station, the area carries jumbo threats throughout the year, except for summer months.
"Now, the elephants are straying for fruits. After July, it would be for paddy," he says.
Kolot, Nenmenikunnu, Kappad, Kalladikolli, Kaarapoothadi and Kummizhi are among the areas raided frequently by the pachyderms.
Forest watchers resort to methods like hitting them with mud balls using a catapult and bursting crackers to wean away the elephants.