COIMBATORE: The 45-year-old makhna elephant captured near Coimbatore on Thursday spent over 24 hours on a truck while the forest department drove it 200 km to find a place for it to be freed as public at two sites protested its release in their localities. Sources said the animal was sedated multiple times, raising concerns about its health. At 8.30 pm on Friday the animal fell as it was unloaded, sources said.
Forest secretary Supriya Sahu at 10.30 pm told TNIE: “Elephant was released successfully deep inside reserve forest between Manombally-Varakaliyar. Elephant is healthy at the time of release. It has moved to a nearby check dam to drink water. Two teams of six people each with doctors are monitoring the elephant.”
Earlier, Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy denied the animal had suffered any deterioration in health. “Water was poured on it periodically and its health was monitored,” he said.
The problematic jumbo was moved to Varakaliyar in Anaimalai Tiger Reserve on February 6. However, it started walking back on February 20, covering over 100 km in two days, through Anaimalai, Pollachi, Kinathukadavu and Perur taluks of Coimbatore. Amid public pressure, the department darted the jumbo with tranquilisers between 4.10 pm and 4.40 pm on Thursday at Perur.
A radio collar was attached to the animal and it was loaded onto a truck at 6.10 pm. Yet, the department did not have a plan for its release. Eventually, it was decided to release the animal at Eluthukkal Puthur in Periyanaikkenpalayam forest range in Coimbatore division. However, farmers in the locality started protesting. Officials then decided to take it to Mulli forest in Karamadai forest range.
‘Operation to relocate jumbo poorly planned’
But, a group of people from Velliankadu and Thayanur stopped the truck and protested against the elephant being left there. With no option, the animal was brought to the Forest Timber Depot on Kotagiri Road near Mettupalayam where it was kept in the truck till 9 am on Friday. On instructions from senior officials in Chennai, the field staff started driving to the ATR with a plan to release the animal in Manompalli forest.
Sources said the animal had been darted with sedatives multiple times over the 24 hours. A former forest veterinarian, who did not want to be named, said it was dangerous to the animal’s health for it to be kept in a truck for such a long period of time.
Further, the sedatives would only have effect for 30 - 40 minutes at a time, requiring the medication to be administered multiple times over a day, the vet said. “It is harmful to the animal to keep it on sedatives for so long. Its body temperature will rise alarmingly, endangering its life. If an elephant is to be shifted, the journey should be either in the morning and evening.
Water should be poured on the animal every two hours. If a journey is to be longer than five hours, the elephant should be unloaded from the truck and given time to relax before another dose of sedatives is given. This operation seems to have been poorly planned,” he opined. S Ganesh, an environmentalist, said forest officials should not have yielded to public pressure against the animal’s release in Karamadai range.