Coimbatore: After more than three days of untiring efforts by forest officials, the infamous wild elephant Arisi Raja who was creating a stir among the villagers of Arthanaripalayam for nearly a month was finally darted and captured at a farm near Parithiyur Forest in Pollachi here.
Coimbatore: After more than three days of untiring efforts by forest officials, the infamous wild elephant Arisi Raja who was creating a stir among the villagers of Arthanaripalayam for nearly a month was finally darted and captured at a farm near Parithiyur Forest in Pollachi here.
The elephant has been confirmed by officials to be the same elephant that was captured in Vellalore in June 2017, after killing four people. After being captured in Vellalore, the elephant was released in Varagaliyaru on the same day.
However, veterinary officials who were involved in the team efforts said that the animal had not changed its behaviour of crop raiding and continued to be aggressive with humans, killing more than six people in two years.
“We tried whatever was possible to keep the animal within forested landscape. But it is unfortunate that we are forced to capture the elephant because of his unusual behaviour keeping in mind the safety of people and the peaceful coexistence of man and elephant,” said Dr. Kalaivanan, one of the veterinarians.
The elephant was darted with two dosages of Ketamine and Xylazene combination (8ml) about late evening on Wednesday and was brought under control at midnight, on Thursday. It was then roped on its four legs by mahouts with the help of Kumki Kaleem. A ramp was made using an earthmover after which the elephant was loaded and transported, after an operation that lasted for more than 12 hours.
Arisi Raja became a sensation after being responsible for the death of a person in Arthanaripalayam, which resulted in residents in the area staging a road roko.
According to Chinnan, one of the villagers, the farmers here always struggled with wild boars but not regularly with elephants. “The elephants that come here would not attack people and not damage crops regularly. Elephant encounters were very uncommon in the village. But things have changed since the arrival of this elephant,” he said.
Palanisamy, another farmer said that they were forced to abandon their farms and move to farther places because of the presence of this elephant.
“The elephant chases us away and eats up all the cattle fodder. The cattle could not be stationed here and we could not even use our farmlands during daytime as he would come out before sunset,” he said.
Since the menace of Arisi Raja went out of hand, a capture order was released on Sunday by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and more than 70 persons were deployed along with two Kumkis, Kaleem and Pari. Though Pari was taken out of the operation as he was coming into musth, he was replaced by Kabil Dev.
Veteran elephant expert and member of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group, Ajay Desai had surveyed the area and had assisted the Forest Department in the operation.
The operation that began on Sunday could not be completed due to various challenges including the difficulty posed by the steep terrain and difficulty in spotting the elephant. A team was continuously monitoring the elephant on all the days with frequent breaks because of the terrain.