Four workers of private resort in Masinagudi arrested for feeding wild elephant

Four persons working at a private resort in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) were arrested and remanded to judicial custody on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, for feeding a wild elephant, reportedly to entertain visitors at their resort.

The four men were identified as R. Anirudh Avasthi, 26, M. Dhirav Kumar Rang, 33, S. K. Ajmavullah, 25, and S. David Riyang, 19. In a statement, the T.N. Forest Department said that the four men were working at Avadale, a private resort functioning in the Singara Forest Range in Masinagudi.

The Forest Department had received a tip-off that the workers there were feeding wild elephants and began an investigation. They checked Closed Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) footage as well as videos shot by the men on their mobile phones and discovered that had been feeding wild elephants. They were then arrested and produced before a judge and remanded in judicial custody.

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P. Arunkumar, Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone), said that feeding wild animals increased the risk of negative interactions between people and wildlife and also fundamentally altered the behaviour of wild animals.

“We already have examples of wild elephants in the region becoming habituated to humans and losing all fear of them due to being fed by resort owners, like the two elephants, ‘Rivaldo’ and ‘Ronaldo’,” he said.

Ronaldo died after it sustained serious burn injuries when an illegal resort owner threw a fireball at the animal a few years ago.

Mr. Arunkumar said that when elephants as well as other wildlife are fed by people, they become less fearful of humans and stray closer to human habitations in search of food. It is believed that the elephant seen in one of the videos being fed by the men working at Avadale resort could already be exhibiting symptoms of becoming reliant on humans, as it tried to break open a ration shop in Masinagudi as well as an inspection bungalow belonging to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board over the past two weeks.

Forest Department officials also suspect that the animals were being fed to entertain tourists at the resort, as the videos were filmed in front of an elevated space accessible to guests with a view of the area.

Investigation underway

Officials said that they were investigating whether the resort owner was aware of the animals being fed or had encouraged the workers to commit the offence. They are also looking into whether the resort had all necessary permissions to function as a commercial establishment.

“If they do not have relevant permissions, the Forest Department will write to the collector urging her to pass orders to seal the premises,” said another top official. Officials added that they had investigated a number of resorts in the region for feeding wild animals in the past two years, including ones accused of feeding sloth bears and elephants in the MTR buffer zone. However, this was the first time they had found video evidence of the practice.