‘SI Bharathan,’ a wild tusker caged in a makeshift kraal at the Muthanga elephant camp under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, would get the taste of the open sky after an interval of 23 months.
Speaking to The Hindu, B.N. Anjan Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife, Palakkad), said the jumbo would be released from the temporary kraal to an open enclosure set up for a ‘kumki’ (trained elephants) squad at the elephant camp adjacent to the sanctuary.
The tusker, locally called SI Bharathan, was reported to be a regular crop raider and had tried to attack many forest officials and villagers in the past. Though the forest personnel had attached a radio collar on it four years ago, the gadget got lost, apparently in a fight between elephants. The officials tried to drive it back to the forest with the help of ‘kumki’ elephants after attaching a new radio collar, but in vain.
Finally, the jumbo was captured on November 21, 2016 as per the direction of Minister for Forest K. Raju. This was after it attacked a farmer at Kallur. The elephant was later shifted to the kraal.
Later on February 11, 2017, the then Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) P. Marapandyan directed the authorities to release Bharathan into the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve (PTR), 320 km away in Palakkad district on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. But the operation was called off after the people in Parambikulam protested against it.
An expert committee appointed by the State government suggested that if the animal was released to the forest, it would reach human habitats again. “However the tusker was meek and friendly to the mahouts now and its behavioural change inspired us to shift the animal to the open enclosure,” Mr. Anjan Kumar said. Moreover, the movements of the tusker were restricted inside a cage of size 20 x 20 feet. Restricting movement in such a way could pave the way for arthritis, he said.
The Forest Department may consider the possibilities to train the elephant as part of strengthening the ‘kumki’ squad in the State, Mr. Anjan Kumar added. Such an exercise is done in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States.