Arikompan, a wild tusker translocated from Chinnakanal to the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) due to his habit of raiding ration shops for raw rice, appears to have reverted to his old habit by attacking a ration shop in Tamil Nadu early Monday morning.
A Tamil Nadu Forest department official said the tusker raided the ration shop around 2 a.m. at Manalar, near Megamalai, in Tamil Nadu. The tusker vandalised the window of the ration shop but left the spot without taking rice from there.
The tusker also tried to attack the door of a layam (cluster home) at Manalar. Later, the elephant moved to the Kerala forest area early morning and entered the forest camp at Upper Manalar. It later moved to the forest border area in Tamil Nadu, said the official.
Meanwhile, the attack on the ration shop by Arikompan raised an alarm for local residents at Megamalai. They fear that the tusker may return to the ration shop area and try to attack the shop.
Tamil Nadu Forest department officials said they are closely monitoring the movements of the tusker. “A 30-member Tamil Nadu Forest department team is still camping at Megamalai and monitoring the movements of the tusker. The ban on the entry of tourists to the Megamalai hill station will continue,” said the official.
Chinnakanal panchayat president Sini Baby said that since the translocation of Arikompan from Chinnakanal, issues related to shops and houses being raided by elephants were solved at Chinnakkanal and Santhanpara panchayats in Idukki. “The ration shop attack by Arikompan in Tamil Nadu shows that the tusker has reverted to its old habits. Its love for rice will be a threat to people,” said Ms. Baby.
Arikompan was captured on April 29 and released to the PTR on April 30 morning. Later, the tusker moved to the Megamalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) area in Tamil Nadu. It has been camping at Megamalai for the past 10 days.
