COIMBATORE: Veterinary Assistant Surgeon of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) K Vijayaragavan was injured in a wild elephant ‘Rolex’ attack at a grove in Parameswaran Palayam near Thondamuthur in the wee hours on Saturday and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city.
The incident occurred when the team, consisting of veterinarian Vijayaragavan, along with the forest range officers V Thirumurugan (Coimbatore), K Jayachandran (Boluvampatti) and experienced wild elephant trackers, Anti Poaching Watchers (APWs), along with Kumki elephant mahouts and cavadis, were monitoring the animal behaviour as part of capturing him.
The veterinarian, along with the members of the team, was walking behind the animal at the banana plantation grove at 1.15 am on Saturday when the animal suddenly turned and pushed him down, while others managed to escape from the scene.
After noticing the incident, a few members in the vehicle honked and shouted to prevent the animal from charging the veterinarian. Subsequently, the animal left the place, and he was rescued.
Sources in the forest department said that there were no major injuries to the veterinarian.
A senior official of the forest department said that Vijayaragavan got minor injuries on his finger and backside, and he was taken to the private hospital on Mettupalayam Road, where he underwent a full CT and MRI scan.
“He has a small burst fracture in the twelfth thoracic vertebra (T12) and left ring finger distal phalanx has an open fracture, and he also underwent minor surgery in his spine,” said the official.
Explaining about the monitoring of the wild elephant nicknamed ‘Rolex’ at night and denying that they have not attempted to dart the animal as part of capturing it, a forest range officer said that they are able to understand the behaviour of the animal only through thorough monitoring before proceeding to tranquilise the animal.
“We have been monitoring the animal around the clock to prevent further escalation of human-animal conflict. We are monitoring how the animal is moving and behaving. This will be helpful for us to administer the injection as part of tranquillising the animal for capturing.
"The usual behaviour of the elephant is to charge towards humans, and after regular monitoring, it was found that the Rolex was in musth (a periodic condition in bull elephants),” said an official involved in the operation.