‘Veteran’ joins Operation Madukkarai

As the number of staff deployed for the mission rises to 100, two elephants join the rogue tusker

TUSKER AND TAMER:51-year-old Kaleem, which reportedly has considerable experience in conflict mitigation, arrived from the Anamalai Tiger Reserve Forest Department elephant camp on Thursday. (Right) The tusker Madukkarai Maharaj now has two new friends in tow.

A 51-year-old trained kumki, Kaleem, from the elephant camp of the Forest Department at Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Thursday reached Navakkarai, a hamlet near Madukkarai to join ‘Operation Madukkarai Maharaj’, to tranquillise and translocate the lone tusker that has been raiding crops and triggering panic.

Kaleem is considered the star of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in taming rogue elephants and in conflict mitigation. It had even been deployed in the neighbouring States for conflict mitigations.

The operation Madukkarai Maharaj, conceptualised last week, at Navakkarai began last weekend.

Officials planned to use four kumki elephants for the operation. The first to reach Navakkarai was Pari, a 37-year-old kumki from the Chadivayal elephant camp. Next came Vijay (40) from the Theppakadu camp, and then Sujay (40).

Vijay and Sujay are twins. Sujay was shifted from Mudumalai to Chadivayal recently, after Nanjan, an elephant at the Chadivayal camp, died.

Now, all the four kumkis will be examined by veterinarians to formally declare them as fit for commencing the operation.

The Navakkarai camp is now turning hectic with the number of staff strength going up from 40 and it is expected to touch 100 as the officials might start the operation of tracking the lone tusker on Friday. Pari and Kaleem are expected to lead the operation, while Vijay and Sujay might be used as backup.

Meanwhile, the presence of two more elephants with the tusker in the last 36-hours has become a cause for concern for the Forest department.

Now, they are worried about the three deviating from its path and joining another herd.