Radio collar proposal resurfaces as crop-raider Baahubali returns

Coimbatore: The forest department is planning to capture crop-raider tusker Baahubali for radio collaring.
The wild elephant has been roaming the foothills of Western Ghats in Mettupalayam forest range and entering human habitations. It crossed the busy Mettupalayam – Coonoor Road and held up traffic on Monday. It was later spotted in a residential area and frontline staff of the department drove it away to the reserve forest.
The elephant often strays out of the forest, district forest officer N Jayaraj said. “We sent a letter to the chief wildlife warden, seeking permission to tranquilise the animal and fit a radio collar. We are also thinking of translocating it from the Mettupalayam forest range,” he told TOI.
Though Baahubali was never violent, its presence in human habitations poses a risk, the official said. “We can’t rule out the possibility of heavy vehicles hitting the elephant when it crosses the road. The injured animal may turn violent and attack people.”
Forest veterinary officer A Sukumar, who attended a meeting with forest officials on Tuesday, had suggested either to capture Baahubali and shift it to some other place or send it to the Varakaliyar elephant camp, where it will be trained to become a kumki. He suggested radio collaring as a last resort.
The department attempted to capture Baahubali to fit a radio collar in June 2022. However, the elephant hid in the foothills of Mettupalayam forest range, forcing the officials to drop the plan.