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The forests of Palakkad, in the Western Ghats, are home to a tusker known as Churuli Komban. The male elephant, in his thirties, has been seen in these parts for about a decade and more. Nobody knows where he came from or if he has been around all his life, just keeping away from human-dominated spaces. Since 2010, when the human-elephant conflict intensified in Palakkad, Churuli Komban, named after his bent right tusk, has been a well-documented presence in the region.

Most of his companions are no more to be found, some of them disappearing back into the Ghats and other unfortunate ones getting hit by speeding trains on the busy Palakkad-Coimbatore railway line. But Churuli continues to traverse this landscape, joining the herd during musth (a periodic condition in bull elephants characterised by a rise in reproductive hormones), otherwise always seen around human habitations. Every day, Churuli carefully crosses the Palakkad-Coimbatore railway line to access the crop fields nearby. He knows the area better than any human inhabitant. He knows where to look for water during the dry summer season, which mango trees will bear fruit first, when the palmyra fruits ripen, and sometimes, I wonder if he even knows the train timings by heart.

Earlier, due to his identifiable right tusk, Churuli always took the blame for all the human deaths and injuries caused in the region by unfortunate interactions between humans and his brethren. But once people started seeing him regularly, and many even escaped unscathed from close encounters with the bent-tusked giant, at least a small portion of the local population has accepted him as a part of their lives. Even the forest department believes that Churuli is the one who cooperates the most during an elephant driving operation, never charging back. It will take some more years for us to accept that human-elephant coexistence is the way forward. Yet, Churuli is slowly but steadily transforming into an icon of harmony.

I have been lucky enough to witness and document parts of Churuli’s life in the last few years. Like the others, I have also had close, unexpected encounters with the tusker. Once, unaware of his presence behind me in a bush, I had wandered too close, and if not for his benevolent warning growl, I wouldn’t be here to write this story. Human-elephant coexistence is a journey, and I believe it depends on our attitude towards these gentle giants.

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Meet the bachelor gang! Churuli follows two of his companions back into the forest after being driven from human habitations. Male elephants occasionally join together, especially when raiding crops. Unfortunately, the first and the second elephant lost their lives in a train accident and an accidental electrocution, respectively.
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After raiding crops at night, Churuli Komban crosses a river close to a human-inhabited area as he returns to the nearest forest. I used to wait at this point every morning to catch a glimpse of the bent-tusked giant, and he almost always stuck to his timetable. He would be back in the forest by 6:45 AM.
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We tend to underestimate the flexibility of an elephant’s body. After drinking water, Churuli slithers down a check dam on his hind legs with the ease and enjoyment of a child playing on a slide.
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Churuli has been a constant around human habitations in Palakkad for a decade and more. He is an expert at breaking fences erected by farmers to protect their crops. In this image, you can see him use a large tree branch to break the fence and access the cropland. He will probably use the same path in the morning to get back to forest cover.
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A watcher lights a firecracker to drive Churuli away from his crop fields. Although he looks a little ferocious here, Churuli is known to behave gently with his human neighbours.
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Like any habitual crop raider, Churuli spends most of his day sleeping. Elephants are more comfortable sleeping in places with thick vegetation, and in Palakkad, many unattended vested patches of forest provide them with a safe and comfortable shelter. It also helps them easily access nearby crop fields at night.
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This image was taken at 10:45 PM when our search party consisting of farmers and watchers stumbled upon Churuli raiding a paddy field. Framing the mountains he came from as the backdrop, and with the help of a bright moon, I could capture this moment perfectly representative of the human-wildlife conflict issue of crop raiding.
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During the last mating season, Churuli was seen courting a female from a herd of 12 elephants, following which he vanished from the human-dominated areas for almost two months. As his period of musth coincided with the southwest monsoon, following him inside the thick forests proved difficult. I was lucky when the couple finally decided to spend some time on a mountaintop with an unobstructed view.
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Churuli carefully manoeuvres the railway tracks during a heavy downpour. Every year, at least one elephant loses its life on the Palakkad-Coimbatore railway line. Unlike in many other places, the railway tracks here do not cut across an elephant corridor, but elephants predominantly cross them to raid crops or to feed on the fresh grass on either side of the tracks. Earlier, I used to witness four or five elephants crossing together. Now only Churuli is left. A long-term solution that involves all relevant stakeholders is needed to prevent elephant deaths by speeding trains.