Farmers scared as ‘Bahubali’ back in Kovai

Coimbatore: After several months, a wild elephant named ‘Bahubali’ by villagers has made a comeback from forest in Coimbatore.

It was spotted venturing out of the forest area in Kallar and crossing over Mettupalayam-Coonoor Road to enter habitations and raid crops on Thursday night. Vehicles were stopped on the stretch for a while to facilitate the elephant to cross the road.

Forest Department has deputed teams to monitor the elephant. Although Bahubali was habituated to raid crops in Sirumugai forest area, so far it did not have any problematic interactions with human beings or damaged properties. However, the very presence of the elephant, which earned its name for its menacingly gigantic size, had become a scare to the villagers.

“With the onset of summer, this elephant might have come out in search of food and water, due to drying up of plants in forest areas. We have decided to wait and watch as we hope that this elephant gets back into the interior forest area as in the past,” said an official.

Previous attempts by the Forest Department to capture and radio collar ‘Bahubali’ to track its movement and study its activity pattern by the forest department turned futile. The operation was suspended after the elephant began to exhibit symptoms of restlessness due to continuous tracking by the department staff.