It’s been a few days, Chinna Thambi , the popular wild elephant was captured at a sugarcane field at Kannadipudur near Madathukulam in Tirupur district. With the rare distinction of being a wild elephant which was captured twice, Chinna Thambi, is now lodged at the Varagaliar elephant camp near Top Slip. He is being monitored round the clock and has quite a few elephants for company.Chinna Thambi shot to limelight after he started raiding crops in the region. He was first translocated from Thadagam Valley in Coimbatore to the reserve forest near Top Slip on January 26. But, the elephant threw a huge surprise when it came out of the forest and traversed more than 100km, and started raiding crops again.Though a habitual crop raider , in the brief period that he has been in the news, 25-year-old Chinna Thambi seems to have won the hearts of many. Be it activists, NGOs, villagers or the fans of the tusker, they were all in full attendance in front of the Coimbatore collectorate when they filed a petition that Chinna Thambi should not be turned into a kumki. Today, Chinnathambi has become a household name in the Coimbatore region.R Ponnamma, a daily wage worker in Anaikatti tells us, “We consider Chinna Thambi as our god. When you can worship an idol made of stone, why do you pelt stones at a hapless animal? Chinna Thambi had been coming to our village regularly. Once, he even put his trunk inside our house looking for food. When we heard about the government’s move that he would be turned into a kumki, we had tears in our eyes. Why should he be punished? He has done no wrong.” Agreeing with him is Karatti, a tribal from Anaikatti, “The reason he has been roaming around the valley is because he is separated from his family. And who did that? We, human beings! He needs to be reunited with his family.”The 25-year-old tusker even has fan clubs in the city. A member of Chinnathadagam Chinna Thambi Fan Club tells us, “We have been seeing Chinna Thambi right from our childhood. He would come to our village in summer looking for water. Not once has he destroyed any property or caused injury to anyone. But, some people pelted stones at him. As fan club members, we keep telling people not to disturb animals,” says a member.Environmentalist K Kalidas of Osai explains, “An elephant herd usually occupies 500 sq km range in a forest. Elephant is the biggest animal in the forest and it needs a lot of food. An average adult elephant needs 250kg food and 150 liters of water per day. Also, a herd does not live in one locality throughout the year. They migrate according to climatic conditions and availability of food. When they migrate, they use the traditional path used by their ancestors. These paths are called migratory paths. The path that connects two major habitats is called elephant corridor. The problem starts when the paths are used as habitat as well.”When the lands were declassified into forest and patta land, the elephant paths were not considered. If you look at the Coimbatore division, the entire region spans 695 sq km. But the elephant utility area is quite less. Most of these areas are slopey mountains and elephants do not prefer to stay there. Most of the areas in the plains have become private lands and some are used for cultivation. Since elephants need lots of food, they start raiding agricultural lands. Elephants cannot distinguish between forest land and farms. All they think of is food. 90 per cent of the time when crop raiders are driven back to the forest, they stay there. But, in some rare cases, they come back to plains and become habitual raiders. Chinnathambi is one such example.”He adds, “Elephants follow a matriarchal system. A male elephant leaves the herd once it’s mature. Every time when they are in musth (highly aggressive behavior accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones) condition, which spans from 10 days to 3 months, they approach a herd and try to mate with a recipient female elephant. Elephants do not mate in the same herd. After that, the male gets out of the herd, stays alone or looks for another herd. The need for food reduces in these times.”“Chinna Thambi is getting used to the new habitat”, says ATR field director V Ganesan. “He is at one of the oldest elephant camps in the region. The elephant camps were started during the British era itself. The elephants brought here are trained by the Malasar tribes, a community which is native of the Anaimalai hills, which specializes in disciplining elephants. The Kuruba tribes, who are a native of the Nilgiris, too who have the traditional knowledge of handling elephants in captivity. The elephant’s behaviour is observed for two-three months and is recorded. Chinna Thambi is an elephant who is used to being around human beings, so he shows less aggression at the camp. Also, the fact that he is surrounded by many other elephants is providing him some emotional stability. A special diet chart has been drawn for him and his food includes a mixture of raw rice, jaggery and millets. He is yet to fully accept the surroundings and is closely guarded by other elephants in the camp.”Public sentiments might be running high, but Ajay Desai, an elephant expert, who has also been studying Chinna Thambi, says that the tusker is safer at the camp. “Chinna Thambi was given a second chance. Once, an animal is brought to captivity, their behaviour tones down. When left out in the forest, they are exposed to many dangers. We have had cases where elephants got electrocuted, fell into a well; some of which even leading to death. Chinnathambi is an elephant who is unable to distinguish a forest from a town or village. He is safe here. Not every elephant is brought here. The forest department too has certain protocols to follow. The more the elephants, the more they need to expand the establishment. They need to pay extra salary for a mahout and kaavadi (assistant mahout). Also, we need to feed the elephant, for say another 40 years. That’s not easy.”The elephants are classified based on their temperament, says Desai. “ Kumki is an elephant which is not afraid of the wild elephant. They are involved in a lot of work- be it driving away wild elephants to the forests or prevent crop-raiders at a locality. They also need to obey the orders of the mahout and the kaavadi. They should also let the mahout sit on the back while chasing away a wild elephant. Elephants listen to most of the commands during the bath. The basic training like lifting the trunk or leg is given during the bath.”According to Kalidas, elephants coming to plains are not good for both elephants and farmers. “Farmers get upset as their yield gets affected. So, they start harassing the animal. Animals start believing that human beings attack them and their behavior changes. Studies have said that they are restless during capture operations.”“If animals are venturing into town that means that their path is not in good condition. The stretches in Thadagam Valley have been dug up by the farmers and brick kiln owners. These pits are near the forests. How are they supposed to move around? I had never seen elephants in my village as a child. Now they have started coming to villages because their habitat is gradually decreasing,” says Ponnamma.Search for food is the primary reason, says Kalidas. “When the quality of food in the forest reduces due to invasive species like lantana camara, they move out in search for food. Animals usually stay in the forest during the rains as they get enough fodder and water. But, during summer when there is no grass which is the primary food of elephants, they start grazing the farms. There are many cases of encroachment near the forests. Rampant mining in the migratory paths of elephants too has to be stopped immediately as it disturbs the elephant movement.”“Elephant proof trenches (EPT) have to be laid well, without any gaps. People have also suggested solar-powered fences that can prevent elephants at the fringes,” says Kalidas. “Illegal agricultural lands, unregulated developments near the elephant corridors, which include brick kilns, water tapping etc are some of the reasons for elephants entering the plains. It’s high time we find both short-term and long-term solutions to address the human-animal conflict in the region,” sums up Desai.

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