Kerala: Locals protest against court's stay on capturing wild elephant

Local people took to the streets and blocked roads in the Chinnakanal region near Munnar tourist spot in the Idukki district of Kerala on Wednesday after the Kerala High Court refused to lift the stay on capturing and taming a wild elephant that claimed several lives over the last few years and caused damage to property.

Various forums have called for a hartal in 13 panchayats in the region on Thursday.

The forest department had made elaborate arrangements to dart the wild elephant, which is known to locals as 'Arikomban' ('Ari' meaning rice in Malayalam and 'Komban' meaning tusker), as it often took away rice from human settlements. Four trained elephants, known as 'kumkis', had been brought in and a team of experts had been kept ready for the capture of the elephant prior to the HC order.

Raising concerns over tranquilising and capturing wild animals, the court said that a five-member expert committee would be constituted to explore all options like relocating the elephant and tracking its movement by fixing a radio collar. After these steps are completed, a further decision would be taken, the court said.

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Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran said that the court's decision was disappointing as people's concerns were not considered. The state forest department as well as local panchayats had strongly pressed for capturing the wild elephant.

People of the Chinnakanal region reacted emotionally to the court order. They told the media that they would stage protests until the wild elephant was captured. They said that they were living under the fear of the elephant that was frequently entering human settlements and had claimed at least seven lives over the years.

Considering the pleas of animal rights forums, the HC, last Thursday, held a special sitting in the evening and put a stay order on capturing and taming the wild elephant till Wednesday.

While considering the pleas to lift the stay on Wednesday, the court asked whether capturing one wild elephant would solve the wild elephant threat and suggested that other options should be considered.

The contention of animal rights forums that human settlements in forest areas, including along elephant paths, were the reason for human-animal conflicts was also taken into consideration by the court.