Mission Arikomban: Forest dept fails to trace rogue elephant on Day 1
Four trainer elephants brought from Wayanad have been camping in Idukki for almost two months and more than 150 personnel were deployed for the operation
The Kerala forest department on Friday called off for the day its much touted predawn operation in Idukki district to dart and relocate the rogue elephant named Arikomban after it failed to locate the wild animal even as prohibitory orders were also clamped in several areas of the district, said a senior official familiar with the developments.
Seven teams of rapid response personnel, veterinary doctors, darting experts, trainer elephants along with two trucks started their operation — mission Arikomban — at 4 am but there was no trace of the elephant.
In several areas of Idukki Section 144 (prohibitory orders) was also clamped in to avoid crowding of people and ensure its smooth relocation. The new habitat of the elephant, which reportedly killed seven people, was also not revealed as per the high court directive, said the official quoted above.
Four trainer elephants brought from Wayanad have been camping in Idukki for almost two months and more than 150 personnel were deployed for the operation. The task force was planning to complete the mission in four hours but the elephant remained elusive, the official added.
“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 it rushed to deep forests. It returned only after the effect of medicine was over,” said the official quoted above.
Darting expert and chief veterinary surgeon Arun Zachariah also said it was difficult to set a deadline for such an operation.
“Even if we locate the animal we have to consider 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,” he said.
Talking about the mission, Kerala forest minister A K Saseendran said that it will continue and the government was bound to go by the high court directive.
Two weeks back the Supreme Court had turned down the state’s plea to cancel the HC directive to relocate the animal. Initially, the forest department was planning to capture and make it a trainer elephant but the move was quashed by the HC after animal lovers moved the court and ordered its translocation from Idukki to another forest. Later the HC-appointed expert committee suggested Parambikulm tiger reserve in Palakkad but local people opposed it fiercely. The HC had directed the government to keep details of translocation under wraps to tide over local protests.
Interestingly, in last four months two troublesome elephants were captured and made kumkis (trainer elephants) in Wayanad and Palakkad. But animal lovers said training sessions were “cruel and inhuman and people were paying a price for invading elephant corridors”.
The residents of Idukki have been struggling with the rogue elephants that earned 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 the elephant killed seven people and destroyed around 50 houses but local people claimed that numbers were much higher and they were struggling with the rogue elephant for more than five years.
