In a meticulously planned early morning operation on Friday, October 17, 2025, the Forest Department successfully captured a male wild elephant near Thondamuthur in Coimbatore district. This particular tusker had earned the local moniker ‘Rolex’.
The elephant, implicated in the deaths of at least four individuals over several months, has been safely transported to the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR). There, it will reside in a specialized wooden enclosure, known as a kraal, at the Varagaliar elephant camp for further evaluation.
The Intensive Capture Operation
Teams from the Coimbatore and Boluvampatti forest ranges had been actively tracking this tusker since September 5, following a direct order for its capture from Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra. Local farmers and villagers had voiced strong demands for the elephant’s relocation due to its aggressive behavior.
Initial capture attempts faced a setback when the elephant attacked Forest Veterinary Officer Dr. E. Vijayaraghavan near Kempanur on September 20, temporarily halting the mission. The operation recommenced on October 12, bolstered by the deployment of four trained elephants, or ‘kumkis’—Chinnathambi, Kapildev, Wasim, and Bomman—stationed at Kempanur.
D. Venkatesh, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of ATR, noted that the approximately 40-year-old tusker displayed extreme sensitivity to light and sound. It would typically forage in agricultural fields only under the cover of darkness, retreating quickly into the forest at the slightest disturbance.
Before Friday’s capture, a specialized team meticulously monitored the elephant for 25 days, precisely mapping its movements. In the early hours of Friday, around 2 a.m., a veterinary team including Dr. N. Kalaivanan, Dr. K. Rajesh Kumar, Dr. S. Vennila, and Dr. Muthuramalingam successfully tranquillised the tusker. With the assistance of kumkis Kapildev, Wasim, and Bomman, Forest Department mahouts safely secured the elephant with ropes around its neck and legs. It was then carefully loaded onto a specially modified truck and transported to Varagaliar, arriving around 8 a.m.
District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj, alongside Forest Range Officers K. Jayachandran and V. Thirumurugan, provided direct supervision for the successful operation.
Mr. Jayaraj highlighted that the absence of rain was crucial to the operation’s success, as the region had experienced several days of rainfall, and even a moderate shower could have significantly hindered their plans.
Mr. Venkatesh stated that the tusker’s behavior within the kraal would be closely observed for several days. Following this assessment, a decision will be made regarding its future: whether it will be trained as a kumki (a domesticated elephant used in forest operations) or eventually released back into a suitable wild habitat.