TN forest department captures rogue elephant ‘Arikomban’

Chennai, June 5 (BPNS)

Tamil Nadu forest department that has been keeping a vigil on the movement of the rogue elephant ‘Arikomban’ tranquilized the elephant during the early hours of Monday.  The elephant was captured at a farmland near Usulampetti in the Theni district of the state.

It may be noted that the elephant was captured by the Kerala forest department on April 29, 2023, from Chinnakanal in Idukki district of Kerala and relocated to Periyar Tiger Reserve(PTR). A week before the elephant had ventured into Cumbum town and a security officer, Palraj died after the elephant hit the scooter in which he was traveling.

The elephant was captured after it reached a banana farm near Usulumapetti during the early morning hours of Monday. A 75-member forest team was on vigil for the past few days and three kumki elephants and veterinarians were in the team of forest officials. Five member tribal groups who are experts in tracking the elephants were also deployed by the Tamil Nadu forest department in the past week.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu forest department told BPNS that two rounds of tranquilizer were filed on ‘Arikomban’ and it was captured using the support of three kumki elephants. The elephant is likely to be brought towards Papanasam in Tamil Nadu and relocated to deep forest.