Chinna Thambi likely to be captured, put in kraal, trained to become kumki

Coimbatore: Forest officials are likely to capture Chinna Thambi once again, this time to train the animal to become a kumki, as it keeps straying into the plains to raid crops time and again.
Hours after it was chased into the reserve forest from Angalakurichi near Pollachi, the 25-year-old tusker was back into the plains on Friday morning. The animal was spotted raiding a maize field near the Udumalpet forest range at 7am.

The animal is giving a tough time to forest officials, who has been trying to chase the animal back into the forest since morning. Refusing to leave the plains, the animal has been moving away from one place to another and at 7pm, it entered a sugarcane farm at Pallapalayam.

“The elephant did not chase any people and some villagers even came near it to pose for selfies. From the maize farm, it moved to a coconut farm at Theevalappatti village, where it spent three to four hours, and then to Mudakkupatti village and Valavadi. The elephant travelled more than 40km during the day,” said C Dhanabalan, range officer, Udumalpet forest range.

When TOI contacted the forest officials last, they said more than 40 anti-poaching watchers (APWs) were monitoring the elephant movement and trying to chase it away into the reserve forest.

Now, forest officials are considering the possibility of capturing the elephant, keeping it in a kraal (a wooden enclosure where captured wild elephants are confined for training) and training it to become a kumki.

Translocated to Varakaliyar near Topslip from Thadagam area last Friday (January 25), Chinna Thambi on Thursday made it clear that it was here to stay as it roamed the villages at Angalakurichi near Pollachi and raided a few agricultural fields. However, the tusker was chased into the Udumalpet forest range, which falls under Tirupur forest division, by 11am.

“We are amazed at the activities of Chinna Thambi. It was translocated to Varakaliyar near Topslip from Thadagam area to prevent it from raiding crops. But it travelled more than 70km and entered human habitations for raiding crop,” said Deepak Srivastava, chief conservator of forests, Coimbatore circle.

He confirmed that talks were on regarding further course of action. “Forest department staff and APWs are monitoring the elephant movement and trying to chase away the animal into the reserve forest. The elephant’s movements will be monitored for two more days. If it continues to raid crop, further decision will be taken by senior officials.”

According to sources, Chinna Thambi is likely to come back to human habitations, irrespective of where it’s translocated, as it had been doing so for more than six years at Thadagam Valley. Some of the officials suggested that the tusker should be tranquilized, taken to the Varakaliyar elephant camp and kept in a kraal. “If it is kept inside the kraal, it will easily learn the instructions and become a kumki,” said a senior forest officer.