The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : A new experience for elephants

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Saturday, Aug 23, 2008
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Kerala - Kochi

A new experience for elephants

K.S. Sudhi

KOCHI: Five captive elephants will soon relive the lost experience of freely roaming around in near-forest environs. That too without chains.

Five elephants will be released to open cages at the elephant orphanage set up at Kottur near Thiruvananthapuram on August 26 marking the inauguration of the first phase of the orphanage.

This is the first ever such venture in the State. Forest officials had been observing the reaction of two calf elephants in the open system for some time to study their behaviour.

The first stage of the project has been completed with the support of the Project Elephant, a Government of India initiative, said Benoy Viswom, Forest Minister.

The orphanage has been planned as a retirement home for the aged and injured animals. It would require Rs. 5 crore for completing the project, according to a proposal prepared by the Forest Department.

“The captive elephant population in the State at present has a large number of elephants that deserve retirement and there are a few who are injured and sick due to various reasons. There are also a few elephant calves obtained from the wild either as abandoned by the herd or fallen into the rocky crevices or streams,” reasoned the report.

At the Centre, elephants will be released in large protected spaces with no chains and enough space for free movement, natural feeding and grazing. Each male animal will be kept in spaces separated by electric fences. The females and calves may be kept together in herds, the officials said.

The elephants will be managed at the centre “in a no dominance and passive system, which is without much interference from the keepers and leaving the animals to decide on its activities. A survey of the captive elephants, according to the note, had shown that most of them were past their prime working age and about 90 per cent of them were tuskers. There had been a shift in the very purpose of maintaining elephants and commercial interests have come to the fore and many of the animals were overworked. Mishandling and neglect by untrained mahouts have also led to increased abuse of the elephant, resulting in physical mutilation and even mortality of elephants, the note said.

The Forest and Tourism departments are jointly working on a project to introduce an eco-tourism project at Kottur to support the centre, Mr. Viswom said.

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