The Forest department has intensified measures to capture the rogue wild elephant, called Pandalur makhana elephant (PM2) that regularly strays into human habitations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
A team of Forest officials comprising members of the rapid response team (RRT) and front-line forest staff with the assistance of two kumki (trained) elephants, Surendran and Surya, are closely watching the movements of the elephant.
The animal was located in the Chappakkolly forest with the help of a radio collar telemeter attached to it, the Sulthan Bathery forest range officer Ranjitkumar said.
The animal had triggered panic among residents after it entered Sulthan Bathery town and reportedly attacked a man and tried to charge a private bus on Friday morning. Though officials had chased it into the Kattayad forest around 8.30 a.m., it was again sighted near the KSRTC garage on Friday midnight, and officials drove the pachyderm into the inner forest around 1.30 a.m. on Saturday.
Forest personnel in Tamil Nadu had attached the collar to the animal on December 7, 2022, and relocated it to the Mudumalai tiger reserve after it reportedly killed two persons and destroyed hundreds of houses in Gudllur and Pandallur Taluks in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, people’s representatives led by I.C. Balakrishnan, MLA, and T.K. Ramesh, chairman, Sulthan Bathery Municipality, detained officials of the warden’s office demanding that the elephant be captured.
However, the Chief Wildlife Warden sanctioned to capture the animal by tranquilising it. Wayanad Sub Collector R. Sreelakshmi has invoked Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) in 10 divisions of the municipal area till the operation is over.
A special team will be constituted to capture the animal, and the operation will begin on Sunday morning, N. Roopesh, range forest officer, RRT said. Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran also will hold a meeting of senior officials and people’s representatives on Sunday to discuss the issue, he added.
“We have identified as many as five forest paths, through which the animal entered human habitats, and as many as 100 front-line forest staff have been deployed to prevent the entry of the elephant. Round-the-clock patrol has also been intensified,” he said.
