Kerala's Rice-Raiding Wild Elephant Captured, To Be Relocated To Another Undisclosed Forest

Ending months of uncertainties, protests and legal battles, the Kerala Forest Department on Saturday captured a wild elephant that has been blamed for at least ten human deaths.

Locally called Arikomban, which translates to rice tusker for its unusual likeness to rice, the wild elephant estimated to be around 30 years old has been terrorising a tribal village near Munnar in Kerala's Idukki District.

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Rice-loving wild elephant

Arikomban has also frequently raided ration shops and houses in the 301 Colony in search of rice resulting in a massive protest by locals demanding its capture and relocation.

In February, the Kerala government had ordered the capture of the rogue elephant, but before it could be executed the Kerala High Court stayed the mission.

The HC which questioned the Kerala Government's decision to resettle the tribals in an elephant habitat also formed an expert committee to find a solution.

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Arikomban to be relocated to anther forest

The expert committee recommended that Arikomban should be captured, but suggested that instead of keeping the elephant in captivity, it should be re-released into the wild in a different area, where it won't come into conflict with humans.

The court accepted the expert committee's recommendation that the elephant can be relocated to Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Palakkad district and should be fitted with a GPS radio collar to track its movement.

While the Kerala government agreed to abide by the HC order, the move to relocate Arikomban to Parambikulam resulted in protests there by locals who feared that the rogue elephant will wreak havoc there.

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How Arikomban was captured

Following this the Kerala HC allowed the government to decide on an alternative site to release Arikomban. The government which suggested two more alternative sites to the HC in a sealed cover has decided to keep the location a secret to avoid further protests.

After procuring the GPS collar from Assam, Mission Arikomban said to be the biggest of its kind operation by the Kerala Forest Department resumed on Friday.

But on Friday it had to be called off after the Rapid Response Team failed to locate the elephant.

On day two of the mission, Arikomban ran out of luck and the Forest Department successfully darted the elephant.

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However, despite being hit by five tranquilizer darts, Arikomban put up stiff resistance for hours.

Finally, by afternoon, the dazed elephant was brought under control, and with the help of four Kumki elephants, Arikomban was shifted to a truck which then transported it to an undisclosed location.

Third wild elephant captured this year

This is the third problem tusker captured in Kerala this year as the state is witnessing an increase in human-animal conflicts.

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In late January, the Kerala Forest Department had captured PT-7 (Palakkad tusker-7) a wild elephant that had been destroying crops in the Dhoni area of Palakkad district.

Earlier, PM-2 (Pandalur makhana) a killer elephant that had strayed into the state from Tamil Nadu was captured in Wayanad.

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