Thiruvananthapuram: A rubber estate bordering the forests in Kerala’s Thrissur has been “overrun” by wild trespassers and a group of state forest officials are working day and night to see how soon they can drive off the over 40 wild adult and baby elephants who are comfortably ensconced there.
Top forest official Prem Sankar, and his team, are stationed at the Cochin-Malabar rubber estate near Thrissur, about 220 kms from the state capital, for the past one week.
“The elephants have strayed into the rubber estate from the forests… there is a stream that flows through the estate and most of the time, they are there. They have been in the estate for around a week now and are mostly divided into two groups,” he said.
“The elephants do not appear to be that violent but they are very protective of the baby elephants which are also there in the groups. We have now moved these wild elephants about 1.5 km by bursting crackers . So far, we have counted 37 elephants but there are more.
Incidentally, on account of the new “residents” in the rubber estate, the nearly 150 are having a problem as their schedule of waking up early in the morning and starting tapping the rubber around 4 a.m is not possible.
“We have asked the rubber tappers to see that they should not venture out before sunrise as spotting an elephant in the dark is tough. We have also told them not to move alone but only in groups. We are now holding a meeting of various departments and also the local population to discuss various options on how soon we can put these wild elephants back into their natural habitation,” Sankar said.
With the mercury rising, it is common for elephants to go in search for fresh water and of late, parts of Kerala have been witnessing unprecedented heat and this movement of elephants can be attributed to it.
(IANS)
