Elephant that reached Doddabetta likely to find its way back to Coonoor

While an operation to track an elephant that reached Doddabetta last week stretched into the seventh day, local conservationists and Forest Department staff are confident that the animal, which has now reached the Ketti valley, will reach its home range in the Coonoor slopes in the coming days. They have urged local residents in the area to exercise caution.

The elephant, a sub-adult male that is known to have an even temperament and to not have exhibited aggression towards humans, had found its way to the Doddabetta Reserve forest last weekend. Following this, the area was closed off to tourists by the Forest Department who worked towards chasing the elephant away from the area and back towards Coonoor, but with little success.

A few days ago, the elephant left Doddabetta and descended along Arakkadu (believed to be the route it had taken to reach Doddabetta in the first place), and into the Ketti valley, where it has been taking refuge for the last few days. Since its egress from the area, the Doddabetta Peak was opened once again to tourists, some of whom had managed to capture videos and images of the elephant peacefully walking down the Coonoor-Udhagamandalam Road and towards the Ketti valley.

Senior forest officials stated that teams of forest staff have been dispatched to the area to only monitor the animal as they are now confident that the elephant will most likely find its way back to Coonoor.

They said as the animal has not shown any signs of aggression towards people, that it poses very little of a threat to humans in the area, but have urged residents to exercise caution when venturing out from their homes.