Elephant stuck in check dam driven back to forest

Tension prevailed at Veerapandi near Chinna Thadagam in Coimbatore rural on Saturday when a wild elephant belonging to a three-member herd got stuck in the slush of a check dam.

The sub-adult male elephant was safely driven back to the forest by 6.20 p.m. following the combined efforts of Forest Department staff and volunteers of Friends of Forest,

It was around 8 a.m. on Saturday, some of the villagers found a three-member elephant herd in the check dam area. The herd consisted of an adult female elephant, a calf and the sub-adult male elephant.

While the female adult elephant along with the calf managed to get out of the marshy area of the check dam and moved back to the reserve forest, the sub-adult elephant got stuck in the place.

With villagers rushed to the place to see the elephant, the animal covered itself behind thorny bushes and trees. After getting alert, a team of Forest Department consisting of senior officials and front line staff rushed to the spot.

S. Suresh, Forest Range officer, Coimbatore Range, said that the elephant aged around 10 was healthy. It hesitated to move as people thronged the area.

Attempts to chase the animal were started in the evening to avoid the animal moving to human habitation in stead of going back to the forest when disturbed. A team of 50 forest staff were deployed near the village as a precautionary measure.

One of the forest staff was injured while attempting to chase the animal using fire crackers.

Sources said that movement of elephant is common in the check dam, water level of which was increased after recent showers. They added that the area where the elephant got stuck is barely two km away from the forests of Mangarai and Thadagam.