The locals and forest officials have spotted the 'hero of Madukkarai' yesterday along with his two new mates on Coimbatore - Palakkad NH. Sighting him has become a normal phenomenon for the locals. They say that the tusker has become less aggressive these days.
Meanwhile the crew of Mission Madukkarai Maharaj is waiting for Kaleem, the 4th Kumki assigned for this mission. He is yet to arrive from Topslip, Anamallai Tiger Reserve, Veterinary team have inspected his health condition and a green signal has been given to Kaleem to join the mission.
On the contrary, animal enthusiasts, Naturalist and Animal Welfare NGO's have raised their views, 'that the Forest Officials should rethink of the decision of tranquillising the animal'.
Umesh Marudhachalam, an Environmentalist has stated that, “Behaviour of the animal has changed a lot. In the last one week, the tusker was found roaming with two male elephants. In the last eight months, there were no incidents of human kilings or heavy crop and property damages in surroundings of Madukkarai. The forest department should not tranquilise it,”
"Kumkis are well fed, duly attended by a professional medical team but that doesn't make the animal happy, it's tamed to accept its surroundings. It’s against their natural livelihood. So, by tranquillizing and training him to become a Kumki, he will lose all his mates, environment and his freedom on whole will be lost forever. Hence, the officials should plan an alternate way to resolve this issue, says Dennis, a Wildlife Photographer and Naturalist.
Now, the question is will forest officials reconsider the Mission or will it all go as per the plan, let's wait till Kaleem comes to the scene.