A day after they set out to capture and translocate wild tusker Arikompan, the members of the special task force of the Forest department succeeded in the mission after a gruelling day-and-night operation on Saturday. Tranquilised and hemmed in by four kumki elephants, the tusker put up stiff resistance but finally allowed itself to be pushed into the loading bay of a specially equipped truck which left Chinnakkanal late evening.
Driving rain and thick fog threatened to hamper the operation but finally, the animal was radio-collared and loaded on to the truck, to be transported about 100 km away. It will be released into the Periyar wildlife sanctuary by night.
After hours of intense search inside the deep forests, the tusker came under the team’s surveillance around 9 a.m. on Saturday near the Suryanelli hills at Chinnakkanal, Idukki. Firecrackers were burst to force the elephant to come down to Vilakk, near Cement Palam, around 11 a.m. Chief Forest Veterinary Surgeon Arun Zacharia fired the first tranquilizer shot around 11.35 a.m., which was followed by four booster doses. Four kumki elephants then managed to guide the tusker to a location close to the road after about two hours.
