Forest Department personnel today captured a three-and-a-half-year-old male calf near Mankarai, in Coimbatore range without using a Kumki, all with the help of tranquiliser darts.

The elephant, termed rogue by the villagers, has been roaming around in the area for a few months. It reportedly entered houses along with its mother elephant and damaged property near Mankarai and Thadagam.

According to District Forest Officer S. Ramasubramaniam, a special team was formed to monitor the elephant which had an infection in its mouth. “We were treating the animal for its wounds while it was still in the forest and decided to capture it since it did not respond to the treatment,” he said.

Kumki elephant Pari was brought in from Chadivayal elephant camp and was stationed near the Forest Department camp in Mankarai. The elephant which entered the camp by 1.30 p.m. was immediately darted with a tranquiliser and it ran straight into the camp of Forest Department where it was roped.

More than 50 men to direct the calf to the truck that was stationed in the area. Kumki Pari was not used as the animal was in musth (a periodical hormonal state which occurs in male elephants) and the calf was directed to the truck only with help of ropes.

Ramasubramaniam said the next course of action would be decided only after directions from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, V.K. Melkani. “We will work according to his directions and then decide whether to leave the animal back to the forest or to tame it,” he added.

Meanwhile, members of various Farmer’s Associations have planned to besiege the DFO office near North Coimbatore because of increased man animal conflict in the villages close to the Western Ghats.