The three-year-old elephant calf captured from Athimathaiyanur in Karamadai on Sunday and released inside forest at Topslip returned to elephant camp at Varagaliyar on Tuesday. The male elephant is currently roaming near the elephant camp at Varagaliyar.
The Forest Department is yet to take a final call on lodging the male elephant calf inside the kraal (wooden enclosure) and tame it to a kumki as it is returning to to human habitation after released in forest.
It was on Friday, the calf was released into Perumpallam forest of Karamadai range after inflammation of its oral cavity was treated for a month at Chadivayal elephant camp.
The elephant was captured from forest staff quarters near Mangarai Reserve Forests Rest House on March 14 following repeated complaints of raiding houses and human habitation at Mangarai, Thadagamn and Kanuvai areas.
The calf had to be darted and captured again on Sunday when it raided a house in the early hours of Sunday, two days after its release at Perumpallam.
It was later transported in a lorry to Topslip and released in forest hoping that the animal would join one of the elephant herds there. However, it returned to the elephant camp Varagaliyar.
“It was seen mingling with the kumki elephants at the camp on Tuesday. The elephant does not seem to join a herd as it is used to human habitation,” said a Forest officer.
Senior veterinary surgeon N.S. Manoharan is at the camp to observe the calf which was relocated to a distance of more than 100km. At Mangarai, the calf was roaming with its mother. Officials said that the final decision on training the calf to become a kumki will be taken by chief wildlife warden and principal chief conservator of forest H.Basavaraju.
As of now, elephant camps at Chadivayal in Coimbatore, Varagaliyar at Topslip of Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Theppakadu at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris have adequate number of kumkis to handle man animal conflicts.
