India, March 27 -- As the Kerala Forest Department intensifies efforts to capture and relocate a wild elephant moving around Vadakkanad in Wayanad district, the operation has entered a critical phase marked by repeated failure, rising public anger and growing scientific dissent. The plan to confine the elephant in a kraal at Muthanga and eventually convert it into a kumki has triggered sharp questions from experts, environmentalists and legal practitioners, who argue that such interventions neither solve conflict nor comply with established ecological and legal principles.

The urgency of the operation has been shaped by recent developments on the ground. The department's latest attempt to capture Muttikomban failed on March 25, following...