It has been six years since Indian authorities tried to stop this elephant, which is said to have trampled six people in southern India. Pachyderm was transferred to a nature reserve.

An elephant responsible for the deaths of at least six people in the southern Indian state of Kerala was captured by rangers on Saturday after years of being hunted.

The pachyderm was given the nickname “Arikomban”, meaning “rice-loving elephant”, because it used to visit rice shops in search of food, while regularly targeting humans: thus trampling to death six people during its various raids, estimates Local authorities.

Six years of hunting

Indian authorities had been trying to arrest him for six years before finally succeeding after setting up a crucial piece of equipment: 150 rangers were deployed and equipped with rifles equipped with tranquilizer darts, five of which were eventually given to the culprits. They are also supported by four trained elephants to help them.

Arikomban held on for a long time before giving up, after a few hours. It is then placed on a truck to be transported by road to the reserve, in a convoy worthy of the president’s trip, which proves the importance given to the animal. Kerala Minister of Forestry, AK Saseendran, told Indian Time that the animal is in good health and adapted to its new environment.

The arrests have angered many associations in defense of the animals, which denounce the treatment of the elephants. They believed that humans encroached on the territory of the pachyderm.

Conflicting cohabitation

Cohabitation between humans and elephants is a real problem in India and is becoming increasingly important.

“Asian elephants have lost around three-quarters of their natural range over three centuries. Today, they are found in habitats that are fragmented, chopped into pieces, and in contact with areas used by humans, for example agricultural areas”, explained BFMTV Philippe Grandcolas , deputy scientific director of the CNRS ecology and environment institute.

The problem is in Thailand, Sri Lanka and especially India, which has 30,000 wild elephants, the largest population in the world. Cohabitation is often forced, with elephants regularly entering rural communities and causing material damage and often injury or even death.

Over the last three years, 1,500 people have been killed by elephants in India and 300 elephants have been killed by humans, according to the report. number published by the government of India in 2022.