Chinna Thambi camps in farm near sugar mills in Tirupur
TNN | Feb 4, 2019, 00:10 ISTTirupur: Giving nightmares to forest staff and the public, Chinna Thambi has been camping in an agricultural farm owned by Amaravathi Cooperative Society Sugar Mills near Udumalpet in Tirupur district, quite far from the forest area, since Saturday morning.
The forest department has planned to drive Chinna Thambi into Amaravathi block of Annamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) forest, around 15km away from the present spot. The department did not decide on capturing Chinna Thambi as it is healthy.
Meanwhile, Mariappan, a kumki elephant, has joined with another kumki elephant Kaleem on Sunday to drive Chinna Thambi into forest area.
Udumalpet forest ranger C Dhanabalan said, “Chinna Thambi is staying comfortably in the farm by consuming sugarcane there. Despite presence of a pond in the farm, the forest department is also arranging drinking water source for the elephant. Chinna Thambi and Kaleem mingled and were seen spending time together on Saturday night.” The wild elephant and Kaleem were spotted together by forest officials on Sunday night as well.
Around 80 forest staff, including 50 anti-poaching watchers (ATW), are monitoring the movement of Chinna Thambi round-the-clock.
The department is more concerned about the people crowd flocking to have a glance of Chinna Thambi roaming in the farm. Police had a tough time controlling the crowd.
Chief conservator of forests, Pollachi circle, V Ganesan said, “It is a major challenge to monitor the pachyderm. The forest personnel from Pollachi and Dindigul circles are working together.”
“We did not take any aggressive steps in the issue. We should see how long we could allow Chinna Thambi in the non-forest area. So far, we have decided to drive it towards nearest reserve forest, 15 km from the spot, or any possible area” he added.
After being translocated to Topslip from Thadagam Valley, Chinn Thambi traversed more than 140 km in three days and reached Madathukulam near Udumalpet.
The forest department has planned to drive Chinna Thambi into Amaravathi block of Annamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) forest, around 15km away from the present spot. The department did not decide on capturing Chinna Thambi as it is healthy.
Meanwhile, Mariappan, a kumki elephant, has joined with another kumki elephant Kaleem on Sunday to drive Chinna Thambi into forest area.
Udumalpet forest ranger C Dhanabalan said, “Chinna Thambi is staying comfortably in the farm by consuming sugarcane there. Despite presence of a pond in the farm, the forest department is also arranging drinking water source for the elephant. Chinna Thambi and Kaleem mingled and were seen spending time together on Saturday night.” The wild elephant and Kaleem were spotted together by forest officials on Sunday night as well.
Around 80 forest staff, including 50 anti-poaching watchers (ATW), are monitoring the movement of Chinna Thambi round-the-clock.
The department is more concerned about the people crowd flocking to have a glance of Chinna Thambi roaming in the farm. Police had a tough time controlling the crowd.
Chief conservator of forests, Pollachi circle, V Ganesan said, “It is a major challenge to monitor the pachyderm. The forest personnel from Pollachi and Dindigul circles are working together.”
“We did not take any aggressive steps in the issue. We should see how long we could allow Chinna Thambi in the non-forest area. So far, we have decided to drive it towards nearest reserve forest, 15 km from the spot, or any possible area” he added.
After being translocated to Topslip from Thadagam Valley, Chinn Thambi traversed more than 140 km in three days and reached Madathukulam near Udumalpet.
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