Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

`Kumkis' begin drive to chase away elephant herd

Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE: Two `kumkis' (trained elephants), brought from the elephant camp at the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Top Slip, set out on Wednesday to chase away a herd of wild elephants that strayed into a farm at Pachapalayam near Perur.

A tusker, four female elephants and a calf had been frequently straying into human habitations near Pachapalayam and Perur for the last two months. Though they did not cause any loss of life, they were wrecking crops and spreading panic.

Forest Department officials were driving the herd back into its migratory corridor with the help of powerful searchlights, but their efforts had almost failed, the animals returning to the human habitations now and then.

After studying the problem, Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, P.C. Tyagi and District Forest Officer I. Anwardeen decided to summon `kumkis' to drive the herd back into the jungles, possibly close to a waterbody.

The `kumkis' — Nanjan (47) and Khalim (37) — came down from Top Slip a few days ago and were positioned at Chadivayal at the foothill of Siruvani. They patrolled the jungles in search of the herd, which was located on Wednesday near Kavundanur. Officials were hopeful of putting the herd back into their migratory track by Friday.

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