Famous Wild Elephant 'Kabali' Blocks Road: Results In 18 Hour Traffic Jam [Video]
In many parts of India, we have roads and highways running through forests and mountainous patches. It is common for motorists to spot wild animals here. In most cases, these animals do not attack passersby but can cause other inconveniences. In a recent occurrence, a wild elephant ended up blocking the Athirappilly-Malakkappara interstate highway for nearly 18 hours! Traffic came to a standstill after the animal decided to stand right in the middle of a narrow stretch of the highway. A video of a group of people in an SUV trying to drive it off to the forests has now surfaced online...
The video clip shows the gravity of the situation. The Athirappilly-Malakkappara interstate highway (SH-21) is 86 km long and connects Kerala’s Thrissur to the Tamil Nadu border. This route is scenic and runs through the rainforests. You’ll see several boards warning you of animal crossings, along this road.
The video opens by showing a long line of vehicles parked by the highway. Some people from these, are seen standing on the road, likely talking about the situation they are in. This video has been captured from an SUV that would soon be seen trying to drive off the animal. This, we suspect, is the vehicle used by the Forest Department. Adding to this assumption is the visual of two men clearing the way for this SUV to pass, likely in the hope of getting the issue solved.
The SUV soon reaches its destination. We see the elephant standing right in front of a bus belonging to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). This vehicle seems to be carrying several passengers (likely tourists) and is halted a bit too close to the animal.
This elephant is in fact, familiar to the locals here. It has created much chaos in the recent past that people here ended up naming it ‘Kabali’ (yes, that’s a nod to the Rajinikanth starrer!). In this case, Kabali is casually enjoying his meal! Likely to make things more interesting for himself, he is dining right in the middle of the road!
The width of this road varies. Some stretches are broad enough for two vehicles to pass comfortably through, while others can be a squeeze for two. Kabali seems to be standing on a rather narrow patch of the highway!
At around 3:30 pm, this lone tusker entered the road and knocked down a palm tree nearby. He then started feeding on it leisurely, not caring about the chaos going around. The traffic soon came to a standstill and remained the same for the next few hours. People soon informed the forest department, and officials arrived at the scene in no time.
Circling back to the video, the SUV moves near the animal and tries to make it move away from the road;. Kabali refuses to yield and is even seen ignoring the vehicle. The officials try harder and finally get the animal’s attention. The elephant isn’t happy with the move and reacts.
Forest officials here reportedly had a close call! They narrowly escaped an attack trying to drive the elephant back to the forest. The 33-year-old tusker is known to be in its ‘musth’ period. The officials thus asked people around to wait peacefully till it retreats.
Late that night, Kabali moved into the forest after walking about 16 km and causing a major blockage on the highway. The story did not end there! The tusker returned the next morning, at around 7am, causing inconvenience to even more vehicles!
Kabali has a notorious record. In 2022, he had attacked a Jeep, Last year, this tusker blocked an ambulance and even injured a biker. Citing these, the local government bodies reportedly asked the Forest Department to move it to another forest area, saying that the animal has become a constant threat to commuters on SH-21.