COIMBATORE: If all goes well, 35-year-old Shankar, a tusker which was captured after it killed three humans in Gudalur, would soon turn a kumki and be chasing wild elephants away. The animal was put in a kraal (wooden enclosure) in Feburary 14, 2021 in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). After 141 days, it was released in June. Since then a team of mahouts has been training it to convert him into a kumki.
An MTR official told The New Indian Express that the animal is learning quickly than they expected. "Of the 48 commends given to train an elephant, Shankar now follows more than 20 such as raising of trunk and front leg. Also, he is trampling the chain tied over on another kumki’s leg which is part of the training routine," he said.
The animal is being monitored by veterinary assistant surgeon K Rajesh Kumar. Shankar is fed 11 kg rice, green gram, ragi, coconut, sugarcane and jaggery twice a day, and is taken for a walk for half an hour. The animal has learned to graze as well.
"Usually, some elephants that come out of kraal won't allow kumkis to come near and show aggressive behaviour. But Shankar is mingling with other elephants in the camp which is a good sign of him calming down," the official pointed out
K Kalidass, member of Osai, an NGO, said. "We need more kumkis to control wild elephants. Though the Theppakkadu camp and Kozhikamuthi camp has over 50 elephants, only five to six are can be engaged in operations such as chasing away wild elephants from human habitations and capturing wild elephants. A kumki would become fully capable only when it is able to follow the mahout’s commands and dare to face wild elephants without fear."