KOCHI: An expert committee constituted by the Kerala High Court has suggested that the captured wild elephant PM-2 (Pandalur Makhna 2) — which had caused panic in Sultan Bathery last year — be released back into the forest. A report filed by the panel before the court stated that forest officials in Wayanad were in a hurry to capture the animal and keep it in captivity.
The tuskless male elephant, which strayed into human habitats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, was captured after a two-day long operation. It was tranquilized and transported to the elephant camp in Muthanga on January 9, 2023. The committee report stated that the exercise should be seen as an opportunity to rewild a captured elephant, after fitting a radio collar.
“Adequate planning is necessary, followed by regular monitoring of elephant movements by the staff. Such a step would set precedence to protect elephants in their natural habitats and help in dealing with such issues in future,” the report said.
The team visited the elephant camp at Muthanga, where PM2 is kept in captivity. According to the committee, PM 2 being an adult aged around 13, there is an opportunity to rewild the animal. Apprehension of harm to human settlements seems speculative as the jumbo did not cause injury or killed anyone during its presence in and around Sultan Bathery, it said.
The elephant was captured when it was in the company of a tusker and a herd nearby. It had been calm and feeding and did not show any aggression till it was disturbed. The panel said the Tamil Nadu forest department, even after several damages to property leading to the loss of a human life, did not think of keeping the animal in captivity.
They radio-collared and released the animal back to the wild. The TN authorities had deployed their staff to monitor and prevent any incident of the animal entering habitations, it said. The report said authorities in Wayanad could have taken such an action. “The officials were in a hurry to capture the animal to keep it in captivity, as evidenced by the removal of the radio collar soon after the capture,” it said.
The committee said while releasing the elephant, the selection of sites should be based on ecologically viable forest habitats as well as human dimensions in terms of distance from the habitations. The release site should have plenty of food and water throughout the year. These sites should be identified before the release of the animal. In the case of PM2, the released habitat should be moist to dry deciduous forests as the jumbo was captured from similar habitats, the panel said.