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'Friendly Chinnathambi to walk out of kraal soon'
Chinnathambi, the wild jumbo housed in elephant camp at Anamalai, has started listening to commands and is asking for cooked ragi and rice foods served to other camp elephants. “The fellow is friendly and is not showing aggression.
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He is socialising with five camp elephants and he will soon be out of the kraal,” Anamalai Tiger Reserve field director and chief conservator of forests V Ganesan told DT Next.
Usually, it takes three months for an adult elephant to cope up in the kraal, but Chinnathambi is fast when it comes to understanding and, in my view, the jumbo will soon be free from the kraal. His social behaviour with other camp elephants is encouraging and he is showing high standards of intelligence, the chief conservator said. A team of animal keepers including mahouts, kavadi (assistant to mahout) and veterinarians are attending to the pachyderm and he is healthy, Ganesan said.
“Elephants spend 70 to 90 per cent of their time foraging, consuming between 100-300 kg of vegetation per day. Chinnathambi was dull for about three days, now he is in a positive mood and is bonding well with the camp animals and forest staff,” an informed forester said.
Elephants have a good memory and are usually aware of changes. Chinnathambi is also able to recognise the transition period. We are not addressing him as Chinnathambi by name, we are using sign languages used by the mahout and he is responding to these sounds and signs, the forester said.
“The kraal system practised in TN is the most advanced system of taming an elephant and Chinnathambi is now on the process of building new friends and he had also developed bonding with animal keepers who are feeding him,” said wildlife veterinarian NS Manoharan attending the Anamalai elephant camp. Chinnathambi has started trusting the foresters and at times prefer to be fed by hand. Wild elephants consume food only after smelling them through the trunk, only the captive elephants which enjoy the trust of the mahout prefer hand feed. The jumbo also enjoys the neem repellent oil massage given to the camp elephants and likes to play with camp elephants, Manoharan said confirming that there are no injuries on Chinnathambi as on date. Nutrient food mixture cooked with ragi and rice is being served and fresh fodder is also provided to him through the camp elephants and staff, the veterinarian said.
SC refuses to interfere with HC order on jumbo
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to interfere with the Madras High Court order giving its nod to capture and put in captivity a wild elephant which has been venturing into human habitats in Coimbatore and neighbouring districts.
On February 13, a division bench of the Madras High Court had directed the state principal chief conservator of forest to pass appropriate orders for capturing the 25-year-old elephant, nicknamed Chinnathambi and keep it in captivity. The appeal filed by an animal welfare organisation against the High Court’s order came before a bench of justices AK Sikri and SK Kaul on Friday. “You want us to supervise the elephants in the country? There are relevant authorities for this,” the bench told senior advocate Anand Grover, who was appearing for the petitioner organisation. Grover said the elephant is “not dangerous” and “it is not satisfied here whether this elephant is dangerous to human.” He said the animal cannot be kept in captivity unless it is declared by the wildlife authorities that it cannot be rehabilitated. When the bench said it was not inclined to hear the appeal and the High Court as well as the experts had applied their minds in the matter, the lawyer said he would withdraw the plea.
The High Court order had come on a batch of pleas, including the one filed by the animal welfare organisation which had sought framing of suitable guidelines for translocation and rehabilitation of elephants.
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