Wild elephants in Kerala have recently made headlines for posing a hazard to vehicles.
A private bus driver in the state was recently forced to drive 8 km in reverse gear when ‘Kabali’, a wild tusker, strode towards the vehicle. On Thursday, too, Kabali forced many drivers to drive backwards.
Forest authorities said that the Kabali was in musth, and hence, it tried to chase away those “provoking him”.
Restrictions are imposed on tourists in the region now, and more forest officials have been deployed to guide the tuskers back to the forest, said divisional forest officer R Lekshmi.
The incident triggered curiosity over the name of the tusker (Kabali), aged around 25.
Forest officials claim that the locals named the tusker ‘Kabali’ as it was first spotted in human settlements a couple of years after the release of Rajinikanth’s film ‘Kabali’.
There is another tusker called ‘Padayappa’, who often gives tense moments to people in Munnar.
Forest officials say it is the good looks of the wild tuskers that prompted locals to name the elephants after Rajinikanth films.
Padayappa, too, was in the news on several occasions for ransacking shops and blocking vehicles.
Passengers of a transport bus near Munnar had a narrow escape from Padayappa’s attack in April this year. Long tusks are the highlight of Padayappa, said a forest official.
Animal Welfare Board former member M N Jayachandran said that wild elephants would normally attack people only when provoked.
He also said that wild animals were entering human settlements mainly due to disturbances caused by humans inside the forest and sought stringent action against illegal activities.