Forest Department steps up vigil in Coimbatore as ‘bachelor herd’ of tuskers move farther

A ‘bachelor herd’ of three wild elephants that strayed out of forests and stationed at Keeranatham on the outskirts of Coimbatore city on Thursday morning, moved nearly 30 km further to Kakapalayam near Annur as the Forest Department staff attempted to drive them back into the forests in an overnight operation.

The staff chased the three tuskers towards Mettupalayam Road on Thursday night in a bid to make them cross the arterial Mettupalayam Road and drive them back to Periyanaickenpalayam forest range limits, around 15 km away from Keeranatham. Power supply was cut at many locations to prevent the elephants from coming into contact with low-lying powerlines in semi urban areas.

Forest Department officials said that the staff managed to divert the elephants to a location, 2 km off Mettupalayam Road. However, they took a long detour of about 25 km towards west, crossing Sathyamangalam Road, to reach Kakapalayam, where they sought shelter in a grove of eucalyptus trees.

The staff surrounded the grove to prevent the tuskers from moving further during the day on Friday. They also prevented members of the public from gathering at the location.

Officials with the Forest Department said that efforts to drive the elephants resumed on Friday night.