Sulthan Bathery: The Forest Department has initiated steps to capture the problem elephant Thathur Tusker (TT-1), popularly known as Muttikomban, which has been spreading terror in Vadakkanad and Valluvadi villages in Wayanad over the past few weeks.

A kraal is a temporary enclosure made of massive tree trunks designed to safely confine a captured elephant until it is tamed.

After a gap of nine years, a kraal (a stable made of heavy timber to house large wild animals) is being constructed at the Muthanga Elephant Camp near here to house the elephant once it is captured. Long eucalyptus trees have been cut and brought to the site identified for constructing the kraal. Tractors and excavators were used to transport the timber from the forest to the construction site.

In 2017, another problem elephant was captured and confined in a kraal at the same camp until it was gradually familiarised with humans. The elephant, known as Kallur Komban, was notorious for crop raiding in Kallur, Muthanga and Naikkatti villages in Noolpuzha panchayat.

A habitual crop raider, Muttikomban, recently killed two farmers when they tried to drive it away from their farmland.

Capture preparations underway
A team of forest officials, veterinary experts and kumki elephants are currently stationed in the forest to prevent the animal from entering human habitations. Once the kraal is completed, the elephant will be captured and brought to the elephant camp.

The Chief Wildlife Warden had recently ordered the capture of the jumbo if it proved to be a regular crop raider and a threat to human life.

According to a communiqué issued by Wayanad Wildlife Warden Varun Daliah, who is also the Deputy Conservator of Forests, the elephant has repeatedly destroyed hanging solar fences at Vadakkanad and entered human habitations to raid crops.

For the past week, the animal has been regularly breaking into the farmland, he said.

Ten teams of Forest Department personnel are working round the clock to prevent it from entering human settlements and to drive it back into the forest whenever it ventures into farmlands. Another team has been working to repair the damaged hanging fences and restore the electric circuit to prevent further crop raids.

Risk-taking crop raider
According to forest officials, the tusker is willing to take high risks as it has developed a taste for cultivated crops. Such elephants are difficult to deter completely because they repeatedly attempt to enter farmlands in search of preferred food.

Varun Daliah said the elephant usually reaches the forest fringes around midnight and keeps trying to break through the hanging fences until the early morning hours.

Four kumki elephants from the Muthanga Elephant Camp — Pramukha, Surya, Vikram and Unnikrishnan — have been deployed along the forest border to prevent the tusker from entering farmlands.

Meanwhile, the agency tasked with monitoring the functioning of the hanging fences at the Divisional Emergency Operation Centre (DEOC) will identify technical faults in real time through an internet-based sensor system and alert field staff whenever the elephant damages the fencing.

The tusker, which retreats deep into the forest during daytime, is being tracked using thermal drones by a team led by wildlife biologist Dr Vishnu. Two experienced tracking teams are also monitoring the elephant’s movements inside the forest.

Apart from Varun Daliah, other key officials involved in the operation include Assistant Conservator Joshil, Assistant Wildlife Wardens Rajeev Kumar and Kannan, along with deputy forest range officers and experienced field staff.