CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu forest department has decided to fast-track the rehabilitation of the elephant Rivaldo, which is currently languishing inside a kraal. Rather than attempting a soft release as originally planned, an alternative habitat has been identified deep inside Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) to directly release Rivaldo into the wild within the next 7-10 days.
The new habitat will be at least 50 km away from Vazhaithotam village and is said to be rich in fodder and water sources and free of human settlements.
For the past two days, forest officials along with scientists from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and local conservationists have been searching for an ideal location trekking several kilometres deep inside MTR even as rains pounded Nilgiris district. Finally, they zeroed in on a habitat that met all the parameters needed for Rivaldo to start a new journey in the wild away from humans.
Chief Wildlife Warden Sekhar Kumar Niraj told The New Indian Express, "It's a very complex task. Rivaldo, unlike other wild tuskers, is very social. So, given a chance he will again stray into human settlements in search of easy food. The earlier location chosen for soft release near Abhayaranyam is again close to a few villages and the type of fodder available was not preferable for Rivaldo due to his trunk disability.
"So, we had to search for a new site. In the process, we found a habitat, which had the right kind of vegetation like tall grass, water bodies, tree types, signal network and accessibility. I had studied the past eight months of data, which established movement of elephant herds in the area. Local forest staff said Rivaldo also used to move around in the area, which meant the new location is part of his home range. All these factors encouraged us to directly attempt hard release and rehabilitate Rivaldo at the new site in the complete wild," Niraj explained.
Anti-poaching staff, kumki elephants & radio-collar to guard Rivaldo
Forest officials told The New Indian Express that anti-poaching staff, anti-depredation squads and kumki elephants will all be guarding Rivaldo, who will be fitted with a GPS-enabled radio collar.
Recently, the forest department introduced digital wireless communication sets, which have GPS that can be monitored from a control room. This latest technology will enable the field staff to monitor the movement of Rivaldo and get advance notice of where he is heading. "It is expected he would try to go back to his original home range -- the Sigur river and the villages around -- but its movement will be blocked with kumkis or anti-depredation squads positioned along the path to drive it back into the forest area," a senior official said.
Mohanraj from WWF India told The New Indian Express that what the Tamil Nadu forest department is trying to achieve in the case of Rivaldo will be pathbreaking and go a long way in elephant conservation. "This is a new experiment and I am confident that Rivaldo will quickly adapt to the new location, which has an abundance of tall grass and short trees for him to feed on. Success of this operation would encourage rehabilitation of other captive elephants, which are in excess, in the forest department camps."
Preparations underway
Mudumalai forest officials said preparations are underway for his transport. Special vehicles have arrived from Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve and Hosur on Wednesday. For a few days, grills would be conducted to get the elephant acclimatised.
"We will radio collar the elephant in a day or two. A special control room would be set up with a dedicated team to monitor and control the movement of Rivaldo when he is set free," officials said.