Arikomban to be shifted to Parambikulam, HC agrees to Expert Committee recommendation

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday agreed to the expert committee recommendation to shift rogue tusker Arikomban from the densely populated regions of Periyakanal - Sinkukandam region of Munnar to Parambikulam.

The tusker should be rehabilitated to Parambikulam as the elephant will be relatively well fed here, the committee had said in a report submitted to the High Court. The report added that the tusker can be taken to Parambikulam in a span of six hours.

The Kerala High Court was reconsidering the case filed by the animal lovers’ associations against tranquilising and capturing ‘Arikomban’, the rogue rice-eating tusker in Idukki's Chinnakanal.

The case was considered by a Divison Bench of Justice Jayasankar Nambiar and Justice P Gopinath.

The court also warned the public against bursting crackers or posting selfies after capturing the elephant.

The court has advised the Forest Department to excercise caution while transferring the elephant in musth condition.

The forest department had earlier decided to capture the wild tusker and shift it to Kodanad Elephant Training Centre.

The court's order had come on a PIL moved by two animal rights groups -- People for Animals (PFA), Trivandum Chapter and the Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy. The petitioner organisations have claimed in their plea that the order to tranquilise and capture the tusker was "illegal and unscientific". The petitioners' had urged the court to issue an order directing the state government and its forest department to translocate and rehabilitate Arikomban to an alternative deep forest.

Arikomban is so named as it raids ration shops and houses for rice.

After news of the verdict spread, local residents of Chinnakanal and nearby places in Idukki district held protests against the court's decision.