NILGIRIS: Officials of the Gudalur forest division have sent a proposal to Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Rakesh Kumar Dogra, seeking permission to capture a wild elephant that has allegedly killed 12 people in the last 11 years.
The elephant, locally nicknamed Radhakrishnan, has been roaming in and around the O-Valley Panchayat since 2014. The most recent death was of K Mani (62), a temporary labourer. The incident occurred on August 11, when he was heading to switch on a motor for supplying water at the estate in New Hope.
Condemning the incident, residents of New Hope, along with the deceased’s relatives, staged a protest on Gudalur Road and refused to take the body to the Gudalur government hospital for post-mortem. They demanded that state forest department officials take steps to prevent frequent attacks by wild elephants. Based on public demand, officials assured them the animal would be captured, after which residents called off the protest.
An official said, “The animal keeps roaming within 25 square kilometers of the tea and coffee plantations in the surroundings of Subash Nagar, Arottuparai, New Hope, Tiruvalluvar Nagar, and Bharathi Nagar in the O-Valley Panchayat. The jumbo refuses to move to the nearby forest range.”
“Based on the people’s request, we have sent a proposal to the chief wildlife warden and are awaiting orders. Until then, we will carry out the process as part of capturing the pachyderm. Elephant trackers are monitoring the suitable terrain for a safe capture, along with a veterinarian. We have also stationed two Kumki elephants, Vasim and Vijay, to divert the elephant if it comes near human habitations,” the official added.