Tamil Nadu: 32 elephants arrive for 48-day jumbo retreat

COIMBATORE: As many as 32 elephants from various temples and mutts from across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have arrived at Mettupalayam for the 48- day jumbo retreat on the banks of gurgling Bhavani river, amid rolling green hills of the Western Ghats.

The elephant from the famous Thirunallar temple was the first to arrive at the camp on Thursday.

The HR&CE and Food minister R.Kamaraj, Municipal administration minister S.P.Velumani and Forest minister M.S.M.Anandhan fed food and sugarcane to the elephants and inaugurated the camp.

The Coimbatore district collector Archana Patnaik, MLAs T.Malaravan, V.C. Arukutti, Challenger Dorai, O.K.Chinaraj, and R.Chinnasamy participated in the inaugural function.

The annual rejuvenation camp was first started at Mudhumalai Theppakadu in 2003 when 55 elephants spent 30 days at the Mudumalai forests. The next year, 65 elephants joined the camp. Last year, 30 elephants came for the camp and this year, 32 elephants will remain in the camp till February 23.

The elephants and their trainers have been provided with separate sheds. The elephants are fed rice, turmeric, salt, dates, fruits, palm sugar, and horse gram. A team of veterinary doctors has been deputed to provide medical care for the elephants.

As the Bhavani river water is very cool, two separate showers with platforms are constructed to give bath to the elephants. A kitchen, office room, recreation room has been constructed at the camp.

Four watchtowers at the boundary of the camp have been constructed to monitor the movement of wild elephants.
A solar powered fencing has been provided around the camp to stop the wild elephants entering the camp.

Tusker enters rejuvenation camp
The wild fears of the Coimbatore farmers came true on Thursday as a wild tusker entered the Thekkampatty area in Mettupalayam where temple elephants have gathered for an annual rejuvenation camp.

A wild tusker entered the Thekkampatty area, drawn by the smell of the temple and mutt elephants assembled there. Though the Forest department had set up four watch towers and an electric fence around the camp area, the tusker managed to stray into Thekkampatty, just hours before the rejuvenation camp got off to a start. The forest personnel burst crackers and chased away the elephant, which stayed there for nearly an hour.

The Tamil Nadu Farmers association had voiced serious concerns over holding the jumbo camp at Thekkampatty area, as it would attract wild elephants to the camp area and the nearby farms. Farmers of Coimbatore district had petitioned the Forest department not to hold the camp at Mettupalayam.

As January is the mating season of elephants, the wild tuskers are attracted by the smell of the female elephants in the camp. En route to the camp, the jumbos ravage the food crops of the farmers, causing huge losses.

Rejuvenation camp in Vandalur zoo
Thursday morning saw officials and staff at Arignar Anna Zoological Park working hard to make arrangements for Day I of the  48-day elephant rejuvenation camp. The elephants waited eagerly as they had their eyes on the fruits and greens laid out before them.  

The camp, which is the fifth of its kind, is dedicated to the treatment and care of the three male elephants here, namely Urigam, 6, Giri, aged five-and-a-half, and Asokan which is five years old.. “As the three elephants of the zoo are too young to be taken to the main rejuvenation camp that is held at Coimbatore, the officials ensure that they receive similar treatment, as deserved, here in Chennai,” said a zoo official.

Zoo officials have been diligently conducting the camp, which the Chief Minister Jayalalitha has made mandatory each year to ensure that the elephants remain healthy and feel rejuvenated.

During the camp, the elephants are bathed twice a day - once in the morning and once at dusk. In the morning, they are bathed in mud and water, which the elephants consider a real treat. They are then taken for a walk. Grooming is another part of this camp.

Resident doctors in the zoo analyse the elephants’ fitness and have increased their regular diet, which includes items like fresh grass, cooked ragi mixed with jaggery, horse gram and salt that are provided to them in the form of a cake. They are also given sugarcane, coconut, banana, papaya and greens. Other than their regular food, the doctors are also providing them with mineral mixtures, multi-vitamins and proteins.

“The elephants are given herbal tonics such as Chyavanprash lehyam, which is considered a very good rejuvenating tonic and Tikka malli oil for foot care,” said the official.

Drunken man trampled by wild elephant?

A 37-year-old painter who went to a deserted scrub jungle to consume liquor in Sugunapuram was killed in a suspected case of trampling by a herd of elephants on Thursday.

Public noticed the body of Abdul Kather of Sugunapuram and alerted the Madukarai police. The police believe that a herd of elephants, which frequently stray out of the forest into this neighbourhood, may have trampled Abdul to death.

“He had gone to the deserted area along with two others, both daily wage labourers to consume liquor on Wednesday evening. They had noticed a wild elephant and ran for safety, but the pachyderm caught Abdul Kathar by its trunk, flung him to the ground and trampled him to death,” police said.
However, his death came to light only when public noticed his body at around 11.30 am on Thursday.

“Two others, who were accompanying him, had left for work, believing that Abdul might have also escaped from the jumbo,” said a cop. The Forest department staff, however, said that there were no signs of an elephant attack on the body of the victim.

“His body would have gone gory, if he was trampled by an elephant. Instead there were several blood injury marks all over his body, which we suspect that it couldn’t be an elephant attack,” said an official of the Forest department, preferring anonymity.

They body of the deceased had been sent for post-mortem at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).
“The exact reason behind his death will be known only based on the post-mortem report,” said the Forest department official.