The Kerala High Court has issued an order to capture and relocate Arikomban, a wild elephant that has been causing damage in the Chinnakanal and Shanthanpara regions of Idukki district. The court has also instructed the district collector of Idukki to oversee the transfer of the tusker to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. An expert committee appointed by the High Court recommended capturing and relocating the animal to prevent it from wandering into human settlements. The court has prohibited any celebrations or loud noises during the capture and transportation of the animal.
On March 29, the Kerala High Court denied the forest department’s request to tranquilize and capture the elephant. Prior to this, a special night session was held by the court to hear petitions from animal rights campaigners who wanted to preserve the rights of wild animals and halt the operation to capture Arikomban.
The forest department had planned to use four Kumki elephants, Kunju, Konni Surendran, Suryan, and Vikram, to capture the rogue tusker, who was named Arikomban, which means ‘wild tusker’ in the local language. The decision was made by a division bench comprising Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath.
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