HEARING PLEAS against the forest department’s mission to capture a wild tusker in Idukki district, a division bench of Kerala High Court on Wednesday formed a five-member expert committee to suggest steps to “bring balance between conflicting interests of humans and animals and to avoid such situations in the future”. Pending receipt of the panel’s report, the bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and P Gopinath said the forest department will continue to monitor the tusker – Arikomban (rice tusker) – till next hearing on April 5. If Arikomban enters human settlements again, the forest department can tranquilize it for radio-collaring and tracking. The court would suggest the next course of action based on the report of the panel headed by senior counsel and amicus curiae Ramesh Babu. The court’s directive led to angry reactions in Santhanpara and Chinnakanal villages of Idukki, which has been affected by the elephant for the past five years. A people’s action committee called for a hartal on Thursday. Forest Minister A K Saseendran said the elephant had caused human casualty and destroyed properties. “The elephant had been chased to the forest several times, but it returned to the villages. The only solution is to capture it,” he said. The forest department was slated to capture Arikomban on March 26, but the court stayed the mission, acting upon PILs from animal rights organisations. The court said any attempt to capture the tusker would be dangerous for the personnel involved in the exercise as well the animal. “We are quite clear in our minds that the balance of convenience would lie in protecting the interests of the wild pachyderm against immediate capture and the prospect of a life in captivity’’ said the bench. It said the circumstances in which people were rehabilitated in an elephant corridor have to be looked into. “To punish an animal for its aggression based solely on a layman’s perception of its motives. would not amount to rendering justice to the animal in any sense of the term.’’
