UDHAGAMANADALAM: Complying with a Madras high court order, field director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) K Kaushal issued an order on Wednesday forming an eight-member committee to decide on the tusker, ‘Rivaldo’, which has been put on a ‘kraal’ near Vazhaithottam on May 5.
The eight-member committee comprises Dr S Manoharan, former additional director, animal husbandry department, joint director, animal husbandry, Ooty, a veterinary scientist from TANUVAS, Namakkal, a representative from Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), the Nilgiris chapter, Boominathan, Landscape coordinator, WWF, Kalidasan, Osai environmental organization, B Ramakrishnan, assistant professor, wildlife biology, Ooty government arts college and a NGO to be nominated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA).
None of the forest officials is part of the committee.
The Madras high court had held that an elephant captured for providing medical treatment should ultimately be let back into the wild and that the forest department should not hold it in permanent captivity.
“The elephant is being provided with a special diet and oral medication at the kraal.
To decide on the further course of action regarding its treatment, or release in the wild or semi-wild conditions, holistic, multi–faceted, independent expert advice is a must.
Hence the committee has been formed,” Kaushal said.
The committee is requested to submit its report at the earliest but not later than three weeks from the date of the issuance of this order.
The trunk of Rivaldo, 35, was cut in an unknown incident in 2012.