2 kumkis deployed in O’ Valley for wild jumbo hunt

COIMBATORE: Two kumkis were deployed on Tuesday to monitor and prevent a wild elephant suspected to be involved in frequent negative interactions with human beings in Gudalur.

The kumkis ‘Bommi’ and ‘Srinivasan’ from Theppakadu elephant camp in Mudumalai have been brought to ‘O’ Valley in Gudalur to monitor the wild elephant known by local people as ‘Radhakrishnan’.

“They were stationed at the Glenvans area to commence the operation to capture the wild elephant. Once captured, the elephant may be lodged in a ‘kraal’ to be monitored for examination, before shifting the animal to the dense forest area by fixing a radio collar to further monitor its movements,” said a staff member of the forest department.

Also, special teams of the forest department have been formed to track the movement of the wild elephant. The forest department decided to capture the elephant after it was believed to have attacked to death a 62-year-old tea estate worker at a private farm near ‘O’ Valley, recently.

He was walking through the farm along with his friend when the wild elephant chased and trampled him to death. The incident triggered a protest by locals who demanded the forest department capture the elephant, which is said to be aggressive in nature.

They also claimed that the elephant, which has been straying into their locality over the last ten years, is said to be behind a slew of other attacks in the region in the past.