THENI: After a long battle of nine days, the rogue elephant 'Arikomban' was tranquillised by a veterinary doctors team and loaded in a lorry with the support of Kumki elephants for translocation at Chinnaovulapuram village of Chinnamannur block in Theni district during the early morning hours of Monday.
On Monday morning around 3 pm, Arikomban came to Chinnaovulapuram village in Chinnamannur block in Theni district. At that time four member veterinary doctors team tranquilised the elephant by injecting two doses of tranquiliser.
Sources from the veterinary doctor's team said, "We waited for the past nine days for the elephant to come to a plain area. Once it came out of the forest area, we tranquilised it by injecting anaesthesia. For shifting Arikomban into the truck, three Kumkis namely Suyambu, Udhayan and Muthu were brought to Chinnaovulapuram from the Cumbum forest office.
He further stated that the translocation of the elephant is being secretly maintained by the forest department. Arikomban is being tracked with the help of a radio collar.
Kerala forest department had translocated Arikomban to Periyar Tiger Reserve located in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border on 29th April 2023 after the Kerala High Court ordered the capture and relocation of the 35-year-old tusker. On the 27th of May morning, it entered Cumbum town and roamed the streets.
The field director of Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve had formed four core teams to monitor the elephant’s movement. The Theni collector is closely monitoring the situation. All efforts are being taken to ensure the safety of the residents and the animal.
A special control room had been set up at the Cumbum forest range office for monitoring its movement through GPS. Over 200 forest department personnel were deployed to capture Arikomban.