Love for Arikompan takes the shape of a life-sized statue

To express his affection for Arikompan, the wild elephant that was translocated from Chinnakanal, a vendor in Idukki has installed an eight-foot-tall cement statue of the animal near his shop at Thallakkanam, near Kanjikuzhi.

To express his affection for Arikompan, the wild elephant that was translocated from Chinnakanal recently, a vendor in Idukki has installed an eight-foot-tall cement statue of the animal near his shop at Thallakkanam, near Kanjikuzhi. Vettikkattu Babu, a cacao vendor, has installed the statue in solidarity with the elephant that lost its original habitat.

“While I was cultivating ginger at 301 Colony, near BL Ram, at Chinnakanal in 2015, I saw Arikompan for the first time. Over time, I became attached to the animal. Though I stopped ginger farming after a sharp fall in the crop price, I continued to follow him closely through updates from local people,” he said.

Mr. Babu said the idea to make a statue of Arikompan occurred to him when the State government decided to shift the animal to the elephant camp at Kodanad. “The statue, which cost about ₹2 lakh, was constructed over two months,” said Mr. Babu. People have been flocking the area to take selfies with the statue sculpted by Punnayar resident Binu. In May, a tea shop named ‘Arikompan Friends’ was set up at Gandhi Nagar, near Poopara, in the district by a group of youths in support of the elephant.

The tusker that raided houses and shops for rice at Santhanpara and Chinnakkanal panchayats in Idukki was captured on April 29 and translocated to the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Thekkady on April 30. Later, the Tamil Nadu Forest department recaptured the tusker and released it to the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in that State. The Tamil Nadu officials have been maintaining that the tusker’s health is being monitored by their staff.