Coimbatore: Vijay and Bommi, the two kumkis (trained elephants) brought from the Mudumalai Elephant Camp, started field operations at the Thadagam forest range on Saturday. Coimbatore-based kumkis Cheran and John will aid them in the efforts to chase away two rouge elephants that have intruded into the residential area.Together, the four tuskers will guide wild elephants Vinayaka and Chinna Thambi away from human habitations over the next fortnight. Forest department officials hope that the wild elephants will move on to another forest beat.Vijay and Bommi were taken for a short walk in and around the forest area to help them acclimatize, forest department officials said. They plan to station both the elephants on the forest fringes rather than deep inside the forest areas. “They will be stationed on the fringes from Saturday and will get into action if any of the two troublesome wild elephants come out of the forest,” chief conservator of forests Deepak Shrivastava said. “Since there are two wild elephants, one being Vinayaka, a massive tusker, Cheran and John will help the duo in the operation,” he told TOI.The department will assess the situation after 15 days of continuous operation, said the official. “If the wild elephants stop coming to the villages and the Thadagam range in 15 days, we can consider the issue solved. Otherwise, we will look into other options,” said Shrivastava.Since October, villagers from in and around Thadagam have been petitioning the forest department and district administration to translocate the wild elephants that had been visiting the villages daily and damaging houses in search of forage and food.

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