Copyright thehindu
Following the capture of the wild elephant nicknamed ‘Rolex’, a single-tusk elephant has become a dominant crop raider and nightmare of residents of villages near Thondamuthur in Coimbatore district. The elephant was spotted walking along River Noyyal at Iruttupallam around 6.30 a.m. on Sunday (October 26, 2025), returning to the forest after spending the night in villages. A video of the tusker recorded from Iruttupallam bridge, moving against the current towards the forest was widely circulated on social media. Sources from the region said the single-tusk elephant has been frequenting Alandurai, Narasipuram and other villages bordering forests near Thondamuthur. They said the same elephant took a stroll through Narasipuram town during the day and attacked an elderly person at Vellimalaipattinam on August 30. When villagers staged a road blockade after the incident, the Forest Department had assured them of intensifying night patrols to prevent elephants from straying into villages. However, the staff could not control crop-raiding elephants, they alleged. An official from the department said that incidents of crop raiding by the single-tusk elephant were not rampant before the capture of Rolex. Now it is the dominant tusker engaged in crop raiding, taking multiple routes to villages to evade the frontline staff, the official added.
