Coimbatore : Until a few decades ago, the Thadagam valley was a quaint neighbourhood with busy brick kiln trucks plying here and there carrying bricks and along with them, plenty of dust. As farmlands started to rapidly convert into brick kilns, the area was seeing a shift in lifestyle as huts were replaced by bungalows and rest houses.
Coimbatore : Until a few decades ago, the Thadagam valley was a quaint neighbourhood with busy brick kiln trucks plying here and there carrying bricks and along with them, plenty of dust. As farmlands started to rapidly convert into brick kilns, the area was seeing a shift in lifestyle as huts were replaced by bungalows and rest houses.
It was during this time that the area started to see the rise of a new problem, Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC). As negative interactions gained in number, loss was also recorded like never before. Though it was not the only region in Coimbatore that was affected by HEC, in no time, Thadagam gained a sobriquet as the hub of HEC in Coimbatore.
With the pachyderm starting to venture out more and more into human habitations, courtesy, increased encroachment in forested landscape in the name of development that have eaten up their resources, people started turning hostile towards elephants.
Elephants of this area have been facing different kind of abuse from people ranging from taunting, throwing stones and bricks and even throwing objects on fire at them in order to drive them away from human settlements.
Though many elephants visited the region often, a few names became very famous among the local residents. The names Periyathambi, Chinnathambi, Vinayakan, Thaai and Kutti (Mother and Calf), are some of the most repeated as these elephants moved often outside reserve forests.
Among those, Chinnathambi and Vinayakan became household names in the last few years since when they have been venturing out often. The animals kept venturing out so much that the farmers in the region went on to pressurise forest officials to capture and translocate them, which eventually happened. Both the elephants were translocated in forty days, with Vinayakan being moved to Mudumalai in December 2018 and Chinnathambi to Varagaliyaru in Anamalai Tiger Reserve on Friday (25th of January, 2019).
Before the capture, the proximity with which these elephants moved with people reflected typical crop raiders’ behaviour explained by scientists over the time.
While Vinayakan was a little shy of humans and often showed aggressive response when approached uncomfortably close, Chinnathambi did not worry, even if humans were at touching distance. A video of Vinayakan moving along with the Thaai and Kutti elephants near an abandoned mine shows a concerned Vinayakan, taking uncomfortable steps as he is surrounded by people.
Chinnathambi on the other hand is neither afraid of humans nor does he retaliate when humans are very close. A video of him eating from a sack of rice in the front porch of a house was shared over and over on social media. Chinnathambi neither took notice of the girl who was shooting the video, nor the voices of the inmates of the house as he munched casually from the sack of rice.
There was another video of him that was circulated widely. In the video, Chinnathambi would be casually walking on a road inside the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) campus. He was still surrounded by people as he was on his kingly walk with a stick in his mouth.
The capture of both the elephants also had contrasting scenarios. Vinayakan’s was all about resilience and patience, whereas, Chinnathambi’s capture was filled with brutality and stress. He was humbled by the two huge Kumkis Kalim and Vijay and was tossed around before being loaded in the vehicle.
The injuries left on his back by the tusks of Vijay were evidences of the brutality forced on the less aggressive Chinnathambi. There were many nervous moments during the capture as Chinnathambi nearly collapsed while being pushed around by Kumki Vijay and the two earth movers.
When both the animals were loaded and were being taken off, the scenes shifted from a momentary cheer to a lasting sorrow. Social media was flooded with emotional posts that could last for a while. But the tears shed on the day of the capture could last for a longer period as those were from people who actually knew both the elephants.
The ecology of the region is certainly a thing of worry as the elimination of two potent breeding males would create greater impact inside the forest than outside. “Vinayakan is an excellent specimen. He is healthy, has a good temperament and the musth flow is good. He has all that is required for a bull his age. Elephants like him are important for these forests,” said Dr. N.S. Manoharan, who headed the veterinary team that captured both the elephants.
Ajay Desai, the expert adviser who studied both the elephants had said that Vinayakan was one of the largest bulls in the Coimbatore Forest Division, which should be kept intact to keep the male-female ration in a good balance. However, he was believed to be leading the crop raiding males which resulted in the capture.
The story of Thadagam has been beautifully intervened and altered by both Chinnathambi and Vinayakan, who though now are free of crackers, human disturbances, burning objects, loud cheers or shouts or even stones in their new homes, will always be remembered by the people of the Thadagam valley, for gracing their hometown with their kingly presence.