More than a month after the translocation of wild elephant Vinayagan from Thadagam Valley, the Forest Department has begun preparations to capture and translocate Chinna Thambi, a male wild elephant that has been raiding farms and houses in the valley in search of food.
Kumki elephants Mudumalai (55) from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), and Khaleem (45) from Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) are being deployed in the operation. While Mudumalai was being transported to Coimbatore on Wednesday evening, officials said that the truck carrying Khaleem would leave the elephant camp in Top Slip in the late hours of Wednesday.
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Khaleem was last deployed in Coimbatore to capture a wild elephant that killed four persons near Vellalore in June 2017.
Two kumkis namely Cheran and Vijay are already stationed near Varapalayam in Thadagam Valley for chasing away wild elephants and for the operation.
Sources who are in the know of the preparations said that all arrangements have been made to capture Chinna Thambi.
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“Chinna Thambi is being monitored for the last several days. It has been moving along the stretch between Dhaliyur and Kanuvai in the last few days. The elephant may be captured on Thursday or Friday if we are able to locate him at a convenient place far away from human habitations,” said a source.
The Forest Department took a final call on capturing Chinna Thambi after various ‘negative conditioning’ measures to prevent the animal from entering human habitations failed. Also, the Department was facing pressure from farmers for the translocation of the elephant.
The Forest Department is already having an order for the capture and translocation of Chinna Thambi. The order was obtained along with another order that led to the translocation of Vinayagan.