Kerala is a mystic land ! ~ now ruled by Commies – there are so
many ancient temples dating back to tens of centuries and more .. beautiful, ancient, they are in tranquil
settings ~ mostly will have majestic Elephants – the tuskers called kombans – have
specific names andare looked after
passionately.
Animal
– human conflict is harming both animals and humans – there are places were
humans have occupied or have built structures in elephant movement
corridor. With habitats shrinking-
animals are forced to raid human settlement for food. In the wild forests of
Kerala, as the sun sets in for the day at Vadakkanad, the villagers develop a
certain sprint in their steps, hurrying towards the safety of their homes. This
is a measure taken in great concern - to
avoid any unpleasant encounters with the raiders of the night, the elephants.Surrounded by the thick growth of
teak, areca-nut palm tree and silver-oak, there is a small hamlet called
Vadakkanad nestled among several small villages along the fringes of Wayanad
Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala. The community members who are mostly farmers, spend their days
cultivating paddy, banana, areca nut, coconut and coffee in their agricultural
farms. It is this proximity of the village to the protected area and the smell
of freshly growing crops and fruits that attracts wild elephants towards the
village.
Wayanad
was in news this week - Maoist member CP Jaleel was killed in a shootout with
the Kerala police’s Thunderbolt unit at the Vythiri area in the Wayanad district.
Senior police officer and Kannur Range IG Balram Kumar Upadhyaya told TNM that
the encounter which began around 8:30 pm went on till late into the
night.Balram said that there were about 10 armed Maoists, who were engaged in
the encounter with the police officials. It all began after the Maoists arrived
at a local resort in Vythiri around 7:30 pm to demand cash and other
provisions, said the police officer. However, they began arguing when the resort
refused to hand over money. An employee
at the resort informed the police about this following which the Thunderbolts
were called in. On the arrival of the police force, the armed men began to
retreat into the forests with the police following suit. Police say Maoists
began to shoot at them as they retreated. “It was this provocation by the
Maoists that pushed the Thunderbolts to fire back. The police firing was more
of a form of defence,” said Balram Kumar, who is handling the case.
Wayanad
district lies in the north-east of
Kerala with headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is set high on the
Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100. The district was formed in Nov 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala by carving
out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
Last
year there was unrest – there was agitation
in front of the Wayanad Wildlife
Warden at SulthanBathery under the banner Vadakkanadu Grama Samrakshana Samithy. Farmers of Vadakkanad village close to the
jungle in Wayanadboycotted forest officials
in protest against failure to stop recurring crop raids by elephant
herds. Villagers had to form special squads in each area to maintain round the
clock vigil. Of specific reference was a
tusker referred as ‘Vadakkanattu Komban’.
The
elephant, Vadakkanad Komban had been fitted with a radio collar after it
trampled an Adivasi boy to death in May 2018. According to reports, the elephant is
originally from Karnataka, and had entered Kerala from the Hunasur forest area.
This elephant had also previously managed to escape confinement in a special
natural enclosure in Muthanga back in May 2018. It had entered some agricultural fields and destroyed crops
there.
It
could not be captured immediately as the Forest department officials required
four kumki elephants in order to capture and relocate the elephant. Now comes the news that the Forest and Wildlife Department on this day morning captured the wild tusker that had been creating fear among villagers in
Vadakkanad area. The tusker was captured from ChembarathiMoola
forest in Kurichiyad forest range under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS)
and will be shifted to a temporary kraal set up at Muthanga.
The
jumbo, aged about 26 years, has been causing panic among people in various
hamlets on the forest fringes. Though
the animal had left the area after the incident, it reappeared by December-end
in 2018 and started destroying crops. The jumbo, a regular crop-raider in the
Sulthan Bathery and Kurichyad ranges under the sanctuary. The Chief Wildlife
Warden had issued an order on May 30, 2018, to capture the elephant and
translocate it to the Muthanga elephant camp, the pachyderm left the area the
very next day. It was around seven months in the adjacent Bandipur Tiger
Reserve in Karnataka and it reappeared in Vadakkanad area a few months back,
said Warden who is supervising the operation.
The
operation began at 5 a.m. with the help of three kumki elephants — Surya,
Neelakandan, and Pramugha, an official is quoted as saying. The team located
the animal in the Chembarathi Moola forest near Vadakkanadu, at 5 a.m. Soon
after, a team of veterinary surgeons, administered it the first dose of
tranquiliser dart at 6 a.m. followed by a mild dose around 6.30 a.m. Further newspaper reports suggest that the pachyderm has shown the symptoms of sedation
and would be shifted to the mobile
ambulance of the department parked near the forest soon. The jumbo would be
housed in a makeshift kraal at the Muthanga elephant camp under the sanctuary, it
is stated.
With
regards – S Sampathkumar
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