MP: Elephants serving in Kanha forest get week-long vacation
"For the camp, we brought together 16 elephants from four corners of the reserve, spread over an area of 940 sq km, to encourage socialising among them," he added
Sixteen elephants deployed for carrying out different forest-related tasks, like patrolling, in Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR), got a break from their routine work and enjoyed a week-long vacation recently, an official said on Sunday.
This “rejuvenation camp” for elephants, which ended on Thursday, was part of a 12-year-old tradition of the KTR, he said.
“These tuskers help us in different tasks like patrolling, tiger tracking and averting man animal-conflict all the year round. So this camp is our thanksgiving gesture to them for their toil,” KTR field director L Krishnamurthy told PTI on Sunday.
“For the camp, we brought together 16 elephants from four corners of the reserve, spread over an area of 940 sq km, to encourage socialising among them,” he added.
As part of the camp, the elephants were given their favourites food, including sugarcane, jackfruits, bananas, coconut and jaggery. Besides, they enjoyed taking dips in water bodies and were given massage, he added.
“We literally pampered these elephants for a week as they are part of our family and they also enjoyed it completely,” the official said.
Apart from the fun-filled activities, a health check- up of the pachyderms was also conducted, he said.
“This camp also helps in strengthening the bond between the elephants and their mahouts (caretakers),” Krishnamurthy said.
