Tamil Nadu forest department extends befitting farewell to kumki Kaleem on retirement day

COIMBATORE: Anamalai Kaleem, the legendary kumki (trained elephant) of the Tamil Nadu forest department, retired from service on Tuesday at the age of 60, after leading 99 operations to capture or chase away wild elephants. He was given a guard of honour by five forest rangers and other elephants at the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp.
Kaleem’s mahout of 25 years, Mani, 55, said capture of a wild tusker ‘Karuppan’ was to be his 100th operation. But the elephant vanished into the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR).
Forest department officials said Kaleem was captured from STR in December 1972. He was brought to the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp where mahout Palanisamy trained him. After Palanisamy’s demise, his nephew Mani took over as mahout.
Kaleem is not as tall as other kumkis, but has a long body and weighs nearly five tonnes. He is very strong and is not afraid of anyone or anything, said Mani, who has been his mahout for 25 years. “Kaleem handled all the situations smoothly and during the masth period also allowed me to feed him,” he added.
Forest department officials said Kaleem had been taken for operations to neighbouring Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and even to West Bengal. “Our eyes are wet, and hearts are full with gratitude as Kaleem … retired today at the age of 60. … he is a legend,” tweeted state environment secretary Supriya Sahu.