Wild Elephant ‘Rolex’ Captured, Monitored with GPS Collar, and Released in Anamalai Tiger Reserve

Coimbatore: A wild elephant named 'Rolex', which had been a constant threat to the public and farmlands in Coimbatore, has been captured by the Forest Department after a month-long effort and has now been released in a remote forest area. Operation Rolex Elephant Capture Operation Rolex is a male elephant approximately 40 years old. He is said to frequently enter villages in areas like Thondamuthur, Narasimhapuram, and Kempanur, located in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Coimbatore, damaging crops and attacking humans. Consequently, residents of the area have been protesting and demanding the capture of the elephant. Permission was obtained from the Tamil Nadu government to capture Rolex. The operation was temporarily halted last September after the elephant attacked a doctor who attempted to administer an anesthetic. The Forest Department, which had been monitoring the elephant's movements for several days, administered an anesthetic to the elephant in the Ichikuzhi area near Thondamuthur at around 4 a.m. on October 17th. With the help of four kumki elephants — Kapildev, Wasim, Bomman, and Chinnathambi — the Rolex elephant was loaded onto a truck. The captured Rolex was placed in a wooden cage (kraal) set up at the Varakaaliyar Elephant Camp in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR). This was done to monitor his aggressive behavior and train him to avoid approaching human settlements. Released into the Wild with a Collar ID After keeping him in the cage for a few days, the Forest Department, after studying the elephant's behavior, decided to release him back into the wild instead of making him a kumki. A GPS collar was placed around the elephant's neck. This device will continuously send GPS signals to the Forest Department, indicating the elephant's movements. Rolex was released last night into the dense forest of Manthiri Mattam near Manampalli in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR). The area is free from human traffic and has an adequate habitat for the elephant. With the help of the collar ID, the Forest Department can monitor in real time whether Rolex is returning to human settlements or moving deeper into the forest. This will help alert people or drive the elephant back into the forest before any untoward incident occurs. Significance This initiative is a major step taken by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to reduce human-wildlife conflict. It provides safety to both elephants and humans by preventing elephant killings, altering their habitat, and monitoring them with the help of technology. Exclusive news story from ground zero.