Kumki brought to scare away wild elephants turns out to be old friend

Iritty: The Kumki elephants that were brought to drive away the wild elephants in Pandalur went ‘missing’ with the tuskers. The incident took place on Thursday night. For a few days now, wild elephants nicknamed ‘Kattakomban’ and ‘Bullet’ have been coming into human settlements in Pandallur and Irumbupalam. Kumki elephants Wasim, Vijay, Srinivasan and Bomman were brought from Muthumala.

On Thursday night, the wild beasts ambushed the Kumkis. Around 8 PM at night, fog engulfed the area and by the time the fog cleared, Srinivasan was nowhere to be found. He had broken free of his chain. Forest guards and mahouts searched the whole area. It was only by 12 PM that Srinivasan was found with the wild tuskers. The forest rangers and mahouts, with the help of other Kumki elephants, brought Srinivasan back. 

On Friday morning, the wild beasts returned, presumably to meet Srinivasan and were chased away by the mahouts. A few years ago, Srinivasan was caught by the forest department from Pandalur after he terrorized the region with his antics. He was then brought to the Muthumala elephant sanctuary and trained as a Kumki elephant. Forest rangers opine that ‘Kattakomban’ and ‘Bullet’ may have been Srinivasan’s friends from earlier times.