After a day-long search for Arikomban, the translocated wild elephant, the Kerala Forest Department finally received a signal from its radio collar on Wednesday. The elephant had been untraceable for more than 24 hours after the department failed to receive signals from the radio collar on Tuesday. Arikomban was shifted to Periyar Tiger Reserve from the forested parts of Chinnakanal region in Kerala’s Idukki district a few days ago.
The signals from the radio collar on the elephant were lost since early Tuesday morning. The Forest Department had assessed that the tusker was likely at Cholavanam, a dense forest area where satellite link is difficult. Despite deploying Forest Department watchers for surveillance, they were not able to track the tusker either.
Before the signal was lost, Arikomban had reached 5 kilometres close to the forest area of Tamil Nadu. The signal information indicated that the tusker had walked 18 km from Sanyasiyoda, where it was released, entered the Tamil Nadu Forest area and was on its return to Periyar by Monday evening. ‘Considering the distance the elephant has covered, the monitoring team evaluated that Arikomban is healthy,’ said a Forest Department official.
The elephant is believed to be moving through forests in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Despite the loss of signal, the Department had been receiving signals from its satellite collar every hour after releasing Arikomban in the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
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