Elephant Arikompan captured in Theni district; to be shifted to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
- June 6, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Elephant Arikompan captured in Theni district; to be shifted to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Subject: Environment
Section: Species in news
Context:
- The Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials successfully tranquillised wild elephant, Arikompan also known as Arisikompan, at Uthamapalayam in the Chinna Ovulapuram reserve forest in Theni district.
- Arikomban will be released at Muththukuzhivayal beyond the Upper Gothaiyar area in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR).
The Petition and Impleading Forum
- People for Animals – Thiruvananthapuram filed a petition challenging the forest department’s decision to capture Arikomban.
- The petitioner’s plea was to radio-collar and release the wild elephant in another location of the forest.
- Walking Eye for Animal Advocacy also impleaded in the matter related to capturing the rogue tusker. However, the division bench of Kerala High Court stayed the forest department’s decision to capture Arikomban
Mission Arikomban
- The forest department has initiated ‘Mission Arikomban’, an operation to capture the rogue tusker.
- The plan is to capture it with tranquillizer shots and later shift it to an elephant training centre. The operation was originally slated to begin on March 25.
- For this mission, the forest department has built a rapid response team of 71 members.
- Chief forest veterinary surgeon Arun Zackariah is heading the 11 groups of the rapid response team for the mission.
KalakkadMundanthurai Tiger Reserve:
- Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in Tirunelveli district and Kanyakumari district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. It is part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.