Mission Arikomban unsuccessful on day one as jumbo remains elusive: Official
In many areas in Idukki, Section 144 (prohibitory orders) was clamped to avoid crowding and ensure the jumbo’s capture and relocation. The new habitat of the elephant was also not revealed as per the directive of the high court
The Kerala forest department on Friday called off its much-touted pre-dawn operation for the day in Idukki to dart and relocate rogue elephant Arikomban after it failed to locate the wild jumbo that slipped into deep forests, a senior official said.
According to the officials, seven teams of rapid response personnel, veterinary doctors and darting experts began “Mission Arikomban” as early as 4am ready with trainer elephants and two trucks to capture the rogue elephant, however, they were unable to locate him.
In many areas in Idukki, Section 144 (prohibitory orders) was clamped to avoid crowding and ensure the jumbo’s capture and relocation. The new habitat of the elephant was also not revealed as per the directive of the high court, said the official quoted above.
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Four trainer elephants from Wayanad have been camping in Idukki for almost two months and more than 150 personnel were deployed for the mission. The task force was planning to complete the mission in four hours but the jumbo remained elusive, the official said.
“The jumbo has an uncanny knack to sniff trouble. For the day, it was literally hide and seek. In 2017, we fired three darts but he rushed into deep forests,” said the official. Darting expert and chief veterinary surgeon Arun Zachariah also said that it was difficult to set a deadline for such an operation.
“Even if we locate the animal we have to see so many factors. Terrain should be plain, a truck should reach the darted animal immediately and there should not be any water bodies around the darting location. Saving the animal is foremost. It is an ongoing mission and we could not set a timeline,” the forest official quoted above said.
State forest minister A K Saseendran said the mission will continue and the government was bound to go by the directive of the high court.
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court turned down the state’s plea to cancel the high court’s directive to relocate the animal. Initially, the forest department was planning to capture and make it ‘Kumki’, a trainer elephant but the move was quashed by the high court after animal lovers moved the court. The court then ordered the jumbo’s translocation from Idukki to another forest.
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For the relocation, the court-appointed expert committee suggested that the jumbo be shifted to the Parambikulm tiger reserve in Palakkad but local people opposed it fiercely. Later the high court directed the government to keep details of translocation under wraps to tide over local protests.
People of Idukki have been struggling with the rogue elephants that earned the nickname Arikomban after it raided many ration shops and houses for rice (ari is rice and komban bull elephant in Malayalam). In an affidavit submitted in the high court last month, the forest department said it killed seven people and destroyed around 50 houses but locals claimed that numbers were much higher and they were struggling with the rogue elephant for more than five years.
