Forest dept turns to kumki to keep makhna in check

Coimbatore: The forest department has brought kumki ‘Rajavardhan’ to Saralapathi village near Sethumadai from Kozhikamuthi elephant camp in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Wednesday to prevent a makhna (tuskless male elephant) from straying into human habitats.The kumki was brought to the village from the elephant camp in a truck and it was stationed at the foothills of Anamalai on Tuesday night.Five teams of forest frontline staff have been, meanwhile, deployed in Pollachi forest range to track the makhna’s movement. Each team comprises 10 members. A forest officer said the makhna was captured and translocated to Varagaliyar forests in ATR on February 6 this year from Palacode block in Dharmapuri district after it entered human habitats and raided standing crops there. “The makhna ventured out of the forest again and entered human habitats on February 21. It then started moving to Coimbatore and travelled for more than 100km. The forest department captured the animal near Perur on February 23 and fixed a radio collar on its neck, before translocating it to Ulandy forest range in ATR the next day (February 24),” the officer saidThe radio collar, however, did not work properly. “We are closely monitoring the makhna in Ulandy forest range to prevent it from straying into the human habitats,” he said.
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