Can captive jumbos survive in forest? What do experiences of Sadhu, Kusha, Dinesh tell us

Kochi: Can a captive elephant survive in a forest? Will wild elephants attack it? Many in Kerala might have sought an answer to these questions since Friday when it was reported that a male elephant brought for a Telugu movie shoot ran into the forest near Kothamangalam. The elephant Puthuppally Sadhu was traced from the forest on Saturday morning, more than 12 hours later.

It is often believed that it would be difficult for an elephant tamed by humans to survive in a forest as it would be prone to attack from dominant wild elephants. Findings by field researchers based on evidence from the recent past, however, do not support the perception.

Past incidents show that the chances of a captive elephant's survival in a forest would depend on its nature. South India has reported incidents of captive elephants which ran away to forests, surviving as well as succumbing to the attack from the 'wild' aggressor.

In February 2011, a tusker named Karthik, who was in the Tamil Nadu Forest Department's captivity, escaped to the forest in Anamalai after breaking free during musth. It was found dead following a fight with a wild tusker, also believed to be in musth.

The destiny of Kusha and Dinesh, however, was different. Kusha escaped from Dubare elephant camp in Karnataka's Rangasamudra to the nearby forest in March 2020. It was recaptured a year later. It was released back into the wild following pressure from various quarters not to keep a partially wild animal in captivity anymore.

Dinesh, a tusker in the Kerala Forest Department's captivity at Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary, escaped to the forest some years ago and returned to the camp. The tusker was spotted spending time with female elephants in the forest. It stayed in the camp until its death due to age-related ailments.

A researcher, who preferred not to be named, told Onmanorama that the nature of elephants varies from animal to animal and one cannot make generalised statements about the fate of those who run away to forests. He said Sadhu might have got panicked during its stay in the wild if, as reported in media, it ran away after being bumped by another tusker, also brought for the film shooting. A person on the team that traced the elephant after spotting its footprints in a mushy area inside the forest said the animal looked frightened when they saw it.

"The elephant ran away around 4.30 pm on Friday as the shoot was coming to an end. We searched the forest till we discontinued it due to bad light and poor visibility. We resumed search operations on Saturday morning and found the elephant," a forest official said. The tusker was given food and water and safely brought out of the forest. There were no visible signs of any injury on the elephant.