COIMBATORE: The radio collar fitted on a makhna elephant that was captured in Perur and released in Ulanthy on February 24, has stopped emitting signals, forcing forest department to deploy field-level staff to monitor the animal, which is currently in Shanmuga estate near Valparai and in good health.
Sources said WWF officials fixed the radio collar, worth Rs 5.5 lakh, on the animal on February 23 following a request from the forest department. Two months after the elephant was released, forest department officials told TNIE the radio collar did not work for a single day, contradicting their earlier claims that the system was emitting signals.
The radio collar feed should be connected to satellite and remain in open space for at least two days. But in this case, the elephant was released deep inside the forest within 24 hours of the collar being fitted, because of which the satellite communication did not take place.
“The animal has adapted to the terrain due to availability of grass and water. We cannot say for sure if the animal would remain inside the forest and not enter human habitation which is just four km away from Shanmuga estate. There is a high chance that the animal would reach the residential area at Perukundram if it climbs the hill,” sources said “The animal is travelling five to six km daily, and has travelled over 200 km from the place.
A 12-member team is monitoring the animal during day since the animal’s movement is less during the night. The animal is being traced using its footprint from 6 am,” sources said. Lauding the forest department’ for not yielding to pressure from farmers and relocate the animal to a camp, activists said,”Monitoring the elephant is a good job and the state government should give special financial aid to the field staff. Moreover, the state government should procure radio collar instead of depending on NGOs like WWF,” said an activist.
Relocated tusker in good spirits
Erode: Karuppan, the tusker that was captured in Thalavadi and released in Thattakarai forest on Monday is in good health, forest department said on Tuesday. Deputy director of Sathyamangalam Tiger
Reserve Devendra Kumar Meena said, “We have been monitoring Karuppan since it was released in Thattakarai. A team of veterinarians was on standby since Monday evening. Karuppan’s condition is
improving. On Tuesday morning, he went to a pond to drink water, and stayed there for an hour. The medical team left the place on Tuesday after confirming that he was in good health.”