The Forest Department has deployed a kumki at Saralapathi village near Sethumadai in Coimbatore district to prevent a makhna (tuskless male elephant), which was translocated from Dharmapuri to the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), from straying into human habitations.
Forest Department officials said that kumki Rajavardhan from the Kozhikamuthi elephant camp of ATR was brought to Saralapathi village at the Anamalai foothills on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, five teams of the field staff, comprising around 50 persons, were trying to track the elephant that was on the move for a few days.
The makhna was first captured by the Forest Department from Dharmapuri district on February 5 after it strayed into human habitations in the Palacode block, causing extensive damage to crops. It was translocated to Varagaliyar forests in ATR the next day.
However, the elephant strayed out from the forest and entered villages near Pollachi on February 21. The elephant then moved towards Coimbatore and travelled over 100 km. It was captured from a banana plantation near Perur on February 23 and was translocated to a dense forest in the Ulandy range of ATR the next day.
Though a radio collar was fitted to the elephant during the second translocation, the tracking device failed to emit signals, said a senior official. As the tracking device did not work, the staff had to track the location of the elephant physically.
Kumki Rajavardhan was stationed at Saralapathi village, as it was one of the places to which the makhna might stray into, said an official from ATR. Another kumki from ATR, namely Chinnathambi, is also likely to be stationed at the downhill.
Chinnathambi was taken to the Erode Forest Division for the capture and translocation of a wild elephant, nicknamed Karuppan, in Talavadi Hills a few days ago. The kumki is likely to be stationed at Saralapathi or Sethumadai while being taken back to ATR, the official added.
