Arikomban traced again after losing radio collar signal for 24 hours

Kumily: Putting an end to a day-long anticipation on the location of the wild tusker Arikomban, the Kerala Forest Department finally received a signal from the radio collar on Wednesday. The translocated wild elephant was untraceable for more than 24 hours as the forest department failed to signals from the radio collar on Tuesday.

The elephant is understood to be moving through forests in the Kerala- Tamil Nadu border.

Arikomban was shifted to Periyar Tiger Reserve a few days ago after its capture from the forested parts of Chinnakanal region in Kerala's Idukki district.

Lost signal

The signals from the radio collar on the elephant was lost since the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Forest Department assessment was that the tusker was likely at Cholavanam, which is a dense forest area where satellite link is difficult.

After releasing Arikomban in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, the Department had been receiving signals from its satellite collar every hour. However, signals were lost after 4 am yesterday. Even though Forest Department watchers have been deployed for surveillance, they have not been able to track the tusker either.

Last position
Before the signal was lost,Arikomban had reached 5 kilometres close to the forest area of Tamil Nadu. The signal information indicated that the tusker had walked 18 km from Sanyasiyoda, where it was released, entered the Tamil Nadu Forest area and was on its return to Periyar by Monday evening.

Considering the distance the elephant has covered, the monitoring team evaluated that Arikomban is healthy.