The Forest Department has tracked a juvenile male elephant that brushed against a moving goods train near Madukkarai in Coimbatore district on Saturday.
Officials with the department said the elephant did not have external injuries and frontline staff were monitoring the animal continuously.
The incident happened on track ‘B’ between Madukkarai and Walayar stations around 5.45 a.m. on Saturday.
“The goods train bound for Kochi was moving at a low speed. The loco pilot saw the elephant and applied brakes. The elephant brushed against the train and walked into the forest. The loco pilot informed the railway authorities about the incident who passed on the information to us,” said D. Venkatesh, District Forest Officer, Coimbatore Forest Division.
A Forest Department team, including the DFO, visited the place and traced the elephant, going behind its footprints.
“The male elephant was found grazing with two other elephants. It did not have any external injuries. The elephant was active and a team was tasked to monitor it,” said Mr. Venakatesh.
He said that five frontline workers of the department had been monitoring the movement of elephants round-the-clock on tracks ‘A’ and track ‘B’ that passed through reserve forest since 2016 after an elephant was mowed down by a speeding train.
A watch tower was also constructed for the staff to monitor elephants and other animals.
According to the DFO, the elephant brushed against the goods train on track ‘B’ when the staff were on track ‘A’, close to which five elephants were spotted.
He added that the solar-powered early warning system, which senses movement of elephants on tracks and triggers alarm, was not working for about a week due to heavy rains.
Female elephant collapses
The department started treatment for a female elephant aged between 10 and 12 that had collapsed within the limits of Pooluvapatti forest range on Saturday.
The ailing elephant was found at Vellapathy section of the forest range during a patrol.
Forest veterinary officer A. Sukumar and veterinarian Prabhu from the Government veterinary dispensary at Vadavalli examined the elephant.
They found that the elephant was extremely weak. The doctors gave 21 bottles of intravenous fluids, antibiotics, vitamins and minerals to the elephant. A team was monitoring its condition.
