Coimbatore: Last month, three farmers were killed in a lone elephant attack in the Denkanikottai area in Krishnagiri and people demanded the forest department to capture it. It was reported that it was roaming in villages such as Thimmachandram, Jarkalatti and Kalagopachandram near the Denkanikottai forest.
Coimbatore: Last month, three farmers were killed in a lone elephant attack in the Denkanikottai area in Krishnagiri and people demanded the forest department to capture it. It was reported that it was roaming in villages such as Thimmachandram, Jarkalatti and Kalagopachandram near the Denkanikottai forest.
After remaining untraceable for 15 days, the elephant was captured on the 11th of last month in the village of Magidi near Thimmachandram.
The Forest Department then relocated the elephant to the Thengumarahada Mangal Forest Range in the Sathyamangalam Forests. The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve formed a joint force team to monitor the elephant that had a radio caller fixed to its body.
They could see that the elephant was grazing in the area and was slowly adapting to its new home. A few days ago, the pachyderm was seen moving in the area of Seegur Forests, but all of a sudden the caller signal turned stationary, which led to a search for the animal. To the dismay of many, the jumbo was found dead near the bank of a wild stream in the Seegur Forests.
The Forest Department personnel surmised that while going to the stream to quench its thirst, the jumbo could have slipped on the rocks and injured itself. Unable to get back on its feet, it could have succumbed to its injuries, they deemed. Many wildlife activists have a different take on this unfortunate incident. They opine that the unfamiliarity of the elephant with the terrain and its inability to adapt to the new habitat led to its demise.
Former Minister for School Thangam Thennarasaru took to Facebook to post a moving observation of the unfortunate demise. He has written, "Couple of weeks ago, I received a call from a friend of mine, who is a wildlife activist.
He had a request. He said that the locals at Thengumarahada were protesting the relocation of a stray elephant from Krishnagiri to their area. He asked me if I would be able to do something to resolve the situation. He added that the jumbo seemed very tired.
After speaking to the area elders with the help of my Erode friends and assuring them that they won't be troubled by the elephant, it was released in the nearby forests.
I kept following the story through my friend. He said that the Forest Department officials have fixed a radio caller on the elephant and the animal keeps moving amid dense forests. He said the elephant seemed to head towards Mudumalai and expressed the hope that once this happens neither the elephant nor the humans can harm each other.
I was thrilled to hear this. I thought that the jumbo would tread its new world with freedom, but when I saw the photograph of the same elephant lying dead on its knees near a wild stream in the Seegur Forests, it felt like someone struck my heart with an iron club."
He concludes his post with the moving remarks, "I really don’t have the capacity to look at the dead eyes of the animal. Like humans who travel from a nation to another and struggle to live there, the animal was taken from a forest to another, but unable to adapt itself to the new habitat, it met with an unfortunate demise.
This will be accounted as another natural death, but each and every time an elephant dies, the pain it experiences will always keep piercing our hearts."
After remaining untraceable for 15 days, the elephant was captured on the 11th of last month in the village of Magidi near Thimmachandram.
The Forest Department then relocated the elephant to the Thengumarahada Mangal Forest Range in the Sathyamangalam Forests. The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve formed a joint force team to monitor the elephant that had a radio caller fixed to its body.
They could see that the elephant was grazing in the area and was slowly adapting to its new home. A few days ago, the pachyderm was seen moving in the area of Seegur Forests, but all of a sudden the caller signal turned stationary, which led to a search for the animal. To the dismay of many, the jumbo was found dead near the bank of a wild stream in the Seegur Forests.
The Forest Department personnel surmised that while going to the stream to quench its thirst, the jumbo could have slipped on the rocks and injured itself. Unable to get back on its feet, it could have succumbed to its injuries, they deemed. Many wildlife activists have a different take on this unfortunate incident. They opine that the unfamiliarity of the elephant with the terrain and its inability to adapt to the new habitat led to its demise.
Former Minister for School Thangam Thennarasaru took to Facebook to post a moving observation of the unfortunate demise. He has written, "Couple of weeks ago, I received a call from a friend of mine, who is a wildlife activist.
He had a request. He said that the locals at Thengumarahada were protesting the relocation of a stray elephant from Krishnagiri to their area. He asked me if I would be able to do something to resolve the situation. He added that the jumbo seemed very tired.
After speaking to the area elders with the help of my Erode friends and assuring them that they won't be troubled by the elephant, it was released in the nearby forests.
I kept following the story through my friend. He said that the Forest Department officials have fixed a radio caller on the elephant and the animal keeps moving amid dense forests. He said the elephant seemed to head towards Mudumalai and expressed the hope that once this happens neither the elephant nor the humans can harm each other.
I was thrilled to hear this. I thought that the jumbo would tread its new world with freedom, but when I saw the photograph of the same elephant lying dead on its knees near a wild stream in the Seegur Forests, it felt like someone struck my heart with an iron club."
He concludes his post with the moving remarks, "I really don’t have the capacity to look at the dead eyes of the animal. Like humans who travel from a nation to another and struggle to live there, the animal was taken from a forest to another, but unable to adapt itself to the new habitat, it met with an unfortunate demise.
This will be accounted as another natural death, but each and every time an elephant dies, the pain it experiences will always keep piercing our hearts."