Dudhwa gets 10 new elephants from Karnataka

The Karnataka government has gifted 10 elephants to the UP government which had sent a request for the same last year. Covering a distance of over 2000 km, the ten elephants from Bandipur National Park arrived in Dudhwa National Park (DNP) on Saturday. With the arrival of these elephants, their number has risen to 23 at DNP.

“The ten elephants—eight female and two male—will be kept in quarantine under established protocol of Project Elephant,” said Mahavir Kaujlagi, deputy director, DNP. Kaujlagi accompanied the elephants from Karnataka.

“Under the protocol, the elephants will be kept away at specially prepared Mailani depot campus from other tuskers for four months to avert any new disease in the new environment,” he added.

“A team of veterinary doctors will carry out a check-up of the elephants after four months before they join their colleagues in Dudhwa,” Kaujlagi said.

“During this period, the new elephants would be trained to understand the Hindi instructions by Dudhwa mahouts assisted by 11 mahouts from Karnataka,” he added. The new elephants include eight females Amrita, Parvati, Kiran, Kamini, Dayna, Kaveri, Teresa and Sunga, and two males Nakul and Bhaskar.

Earlier, the new elephants were welcomed on their arrival at Mailani. Deputy director Mahavir Kaujlagi’s wife Shalini put a ‘tilak’ on a young elephant and garlanded him. The elephants were also served ‘laddoos’.

Dudhwa was in urgent need of tuskers since long as the existing ones were under tremendous work load. Dudhwa elephants have to discharge a number of duties. They are deployed in routing patrolling of the vast Dudhwa forest area. During tourist season from November to June, they have to entertain the tourists. Moreover, they are also engaged in major operations to capture errant tigers, leopards and rhinos.

–Deokant Pandey