Arikomban And Arisi Raja - The Story Of Two Rice-Loving Wild Elephants From Kerala And Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is in the midst of an unprecedented mission involving around 300 personnel and three kumki elephants.
They have been deployed in Cumbum, in Theni District, close to the border with Kerala since Saturday when Arikomban entered the town and ran amok, injuring three people.
One of the persons, Palraj, who was injured on Saturday, died at the Theni Medical College on Tuesday morning.
Rice-raiding wild elephant Arikomban?
Arikomban, as it is popularly called in Kerala, is a rogue tusker that has become notorious for its love for rice and had been frequently raiding houses and shops in its original habitat in Chinnakanal, near Munnar, in search of rice.
A tribal settlement called 301 Colony was the rogue tusker's favourite hunting ground, where it destroyed dozens of houses and shops over the years in search of rice.
According to locals, over ten people have also been killed in attacks by Arikomban so far.
Around 30 wild elephants in the area are in small herds and several lone tuskers like Arikomban that often cross paths with humans.
Nobody knows how and when Arikomban picked up its rather strange liking for rice, but the elephant has been raiding houses and shops in search of it since at least 2017.
In 2017, the Forest Department had tried to capture Arikomban in Chinnakanal, but the mission failed after the tranquillizer darts failed to daze the young bull.
Calls for the capture of Arikomban started getting louder again in late 2022 after its raids at homes and shops became a nearly-daily affair.
Under growing pressure, the Kerala government in March ordered its capture. But before it could be captured, some animal lovers challenged the government's decision in the Kerala High Court and got a favourable verdict.
While the HC allowed the Kerala Forest Department to capture Arikomban, it clearly said that the elephant should not be kept in captivity but has to be radio-collared and relocated to another forest.
Failed translocation of Arikomban?
An HC-appointed expert committee had recommended that the elephant be relocated to Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Palakkad district, which was over 250 km from Chinnakanal.
However, the news that the highly dangerous elephant will be brought to Parambikulam resulted in protests by locals there.
Nearly forty days after the Kerala government ordered the capture of Arikomban, on April 29, it was tranquillized and moved out.
Instead of Parambikulam, the elephant was shifted to Periyar Tiger Reserve in Idukki district, which was just over a hundred kilometres from Chinnakanal.
Despite the warning from experts that if released in such a close area, Arikomban will try to return to its original habitat, the Kerala Forest Department was confident about keeping it under control in its new environment.
But this didn't last long as just days after being released into the wild, Arikomban strayed into a forest on the Tamil Nadu side from where it could further move towards Chinnakanal.
This did not happen, and after nearly a week in?Meghamalai, Arikomban had returned to Periyar Tiger Reserve.
And earlier this week, it tried to enter human settlements near Kumily town in Kerala twice, after which it was chased back into the forest.
Arikomban becomes a problem for Tamil Nadu
This time Arikomban ventured deep inside the forest and crossed over to the Tamil Nadu side before the Kerala Forest Department could notice and stop its movement.
Arikomban, which terrorised Cumbum town on Saturday, has been playing hide and seek with Tamil Nadu Forest Department ever since.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has said that it will be captured and relocated only if Arikomban enters human settlements again.
Arikomban is not the only rice-loving jumbo with a Kerala and Tamil Nadu connection.
Tamil Nadu's Arisi Raja captured in Kerala
In January this year, the Kerala Forest Department had captured a Makhna elephant (tuskless male elephant) from Sulthan Bathery town of Wayanad after it charged at a human at night.
Initially, the Forest Department was clueless about the elephant's identity as they had no records of this particular jumbo.
Later it emerged that the elephant was PM-2 (Pandalur Makhna-2), a Makhna elephant blamed for the death of two people in Tamil Nadu's Pandalur.
Like Arikomban, PM-2 was called 'Arisi Raja' (rice king) in Gudalur area in Tamil Nadu, where it had destroyed several houses in search of rice.
In December 2022, Arisi Raja was captured by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. After?two weeks in the Mutumalai elephant camp, it was fitted with a radio collar and released back into the wild.
PM-2, currently in captivity in the Muthanga Elephant camp in Wayanad, is set to undergo kumki training later.
Original Arisi Raja is now a kumki elephant
PM-2, however, is not the original 'Arisi Raja', and that title was first held by another rice-loving tusker in Tamil Nadu's Pollachi.
This elephant, too, was fond of rice and had a history of raiding houses and fields.
In November 2019, it was captured by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department after it killed two people.
The elephant was shifted to Varagaliyar elephant camp, where it underwent kumki training.
Ironically, the elephant, now called Muthu, is currently in Cumbum and is one of the three kumki elephants deployed to capture Arikomban.
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