COIMBATORE: The wild elephant that allegedly killed two women in July and has been roaming the Boluvampatti forest range has stirred a debate – not just over human-animal conflict, but over what to call it. Locals have nicknamed the solitary tusker “Rolex,” after the character played by actor Suriya in the film Vikram, citing its aggressive behaviour. Wildlife activists and experts, however, say such informal naming trivialises a serious issue and can skew public perception.
The elephant, easily recognisable by its broad tusks, is currently moving in the stretch between Vaidehi waterfall and Chadivayal in the Boluvampatti range. “Since the killing of two women in July, we have been tracking this elephant every day and trying to keep it inside the forest,” said a senior forest department official. “At present, it is within the forest near the waterfall.”
The official added that the animal has been alone in the range for the last three years and does not appear to have joined any herd. “We suspect the elephant is behaving aggressively due to age-related hormonal changes,” the official explained. K Kalidass, wildlife activist and founder of Osai, an NGO, and a former member of the Tamil Nadu state board for wildlife, said the trend of giving wild elephants colloquial names has been fuelled by social media and local narratives.
“Except for local communities who live with these animals daily, others should avoid using such names because it borders on teasing and implicitly branding the animal as dangerous. Instead, problematic elephants can be identified more responsibly – say, as ‘Tusker 1’ or ‘Tusker 2’ along with the name of the forest range. If the media start adopting this convention, other informal names will fade away.”
He added that the suggestion has already been made to the forest department, which has begun implementing the practice in some cases. Vikas Munot, an animal lover from Coimbatore, said while naming the elephant might help in identifying and relocating it temporarily, it does not address the root causes of human-animal conflict. Both the central and state governments need to invest in scientific, long-term methods to mitigate negative human-wildlife interactions, he said.