Crossed Tusks Of Kerala Elephant Sawed-Off

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, (IANS) – It was anxious moments for Kerala’s Kollam resident Omanakuttan Pillai on April 10 morning as a team of elephant experts and wildlife staff sawed off the excess length of his cross-tusked 20-year-old elephant Kochu Ayyappan.

According to the rules, elephant owners must get permission from the Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department officials to saw off the tusks, and Pillai, who owns the tusker, had been waiting to get the permission for the past two months.

Finally, the permission came, and on April 10, the team arrived and soon asked an obedient Kochu Ayyappan, to lie down. He complied without any fuss, as it knew that once sawed off, it will be able to freely use its trunk.

Using a hand saw, it took an hour for the workers to saw off about 28 cms from both the tusks and when it was done, the tusker also knew that things would be easier for it.

Later the remaining portion of the tusks were given a polish.

Pillai said the problem when an elephant becomes cross tusked is that it will be unable to feed properly using its trunk and the movement of the trunk also gets restricted.

Meanwhile, Forest Department official Krishnakumar, who oversaw the sawing-off operations, took possession of the sawed 28 cms long tusks.

“This will now be deposited in the strong room of the Forest Department,” he said.