Wild elephant Chinna Thambi on Monday continued to remain in a 200-metre radius at Krishnapuram near Udumalpet, on the fifth day of his ‘tour’ from Varagaliar near Top Slip.
The tusker seemed relaxed, often disappearing into the nearby sugarcane field to devour his favourite food.
As on Sunday, the elephant had its moments of bonding with kumkis Khaleem (55) and Mariappan (28) that were brought from Anamalai Tiger Reserve and kept on standby to be used in case of any emergency operation. “The elephant did not move much on Monday. It took enough fodder and water provided by the Forest Department,” said C. Dhanabalan, Forest Range Officer of Udumalpet range.
According to the officer, who along with his team is stationed at the place since Saturday, the wild elephant has been behaving like a domesticated elephant.
“The elephant comes when the staff calls it by name. It is bonding well with kumkis too,” he said.
Meanwhile, social media platforms witnessed a furore of campaigns asking the Government not to tame the elephant. Campaigns mounted with the hashtags #SaveChinnathambi and #BringBackChinnaThambi.
N.I. Jalaluddin of Nature Conservation Society, an NGO, said that a meeting of animal enthusiasts was held on Sunday which unanimously decided to seek the Forest Department to translocate the elephant to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and sent letters to Minister for Forests and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.
Members of various non-governmental organisations, farmers and animal enthusiasts jointly presented a petition to the district administration on Monday opposing the capture of Chinna Thambi and the proposed move to keep it in captivity.
N. Panneerselvam, a city based lawyer, said that a writ has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking protection for the wild elephant.
Ponnamma Rangasamy, a resident of Anaikatti who was among the petitioners, said that the movement of wild elephants were affected due to red earth mining in Thadagam valley and Chinna Thambi should be brought back to its home forest.
R. Shanmugam, a farmer from Anaikatti, said that Chinna Thambi never turned aggressive when he had close encounters with the animal.
Mini Vasudevan of Humane Animal Society said that the Forest Department should explore scientific methods to rehabilitate the elephant other than taming it to a kumki.
Kalpana Vasudevan, honorary State Animal Welfare Officer, Animal Welfare Board of India, said that the Forest Department should take measures to ensure healthy living of the animals inside the forests.
