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How a sugar-loving elephant took India’s conservation efforts to tusk
- Sweet-toothed Chinna Thambi became a social media star after repeatedly returning to human settlements, highlighting the ways development impacts animal habitats
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A wandering wild elephant raiding crops in southern India has put the country’s conservation efforts in the spotlight. The animal, nicknamed Chinna Thambi (little brother in Tamil), was captured in late January near human settlements that are close to a wildlife corridor in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Relocated to a forest more than 100km away, the 25-year-old male elephant then walked all the way back to the spot where he had initially been caught. Though he did not cause any casualties, his peculiar behaviour certainly raised plenty of eyebrows.
India’s growing population draws elephants and humans into conflict
The crop-raiding elephant was captured the second time by luring him with his favourite food of jackfruit and sugar cane in a seven-hour-long operation.
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Dozens of trackers watched Chinna Thambi around the clock, but were unable to prevent the sweet-toothed jumbo roaming around the Amaravathi Cooperative Sugar Mills facility for several days – giving the owners and staff sleepless nights.
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He even befriended one of the jumbos named Khaleem, a tamed elephant which was employed by the foresters to capture him.
The elephant’s preference for fields over forest has been a source of tension in recent weeks, with the drama playing out on social media and in newspaper headlines as Indians call for better conservation measures.
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