Five tamed elephants from Sakrebail elephant camp of the Department of Forest and Wildlife near here will head towards their new home in Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, in the last week of November.
There was a request from the government of Uttar Pradesh for tamed elephants from Karnataka for purpose of patrolling the forests in Dudhwa and to promote eco-tourism there. After seeking necessary approval from the Ministry of Forest and Environment, the Karnataka government has decided to hand over the elephants to Uttar Pradesh.
At present, Sakrebail camp has 22 elephants of which Raghavendra (35), Amrutha (12) and her two-year-old daughter Parvathi, Bhaskar (5) and Kiran (3) will be handed over to Uttar Pradesh. M.C. Cheluvaraj, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife Division), told The Hindu that the shifting of elephants from here to Dudhwa will also facilitate the genetic exchange.
He said that a team of officials from Department of Forest and Wildlife of Uttar Pradesh including veterinary experts visited Sakrebail recently. They had taken blood and dung samples of the elephants from here for tests. The elephants will be taken to Uttar Pradesh in specially designed vehicles.
The pachyderms will have to travel for almost 2,300 km to reach their new home. The journey is likely to take ten days. Ample time will be provided for the animals to rest during the journey. The itinerary of the journey is yet to be worked out, he said.
Mahouts from Uttar Pradesh will be trained here on caring and handling the elephants. In addition to this, a team of mahouts from Sakrebail will also stay in Dudhwa park for three months to help the elephants get accustomed to the new environment.
A total of 40 mahouts and kavadis are working in Sakrebail camp at present. This includes 30 permanent workers and 10 serving on a daily-wage basis. Sakrebail camp recorded footfall of more than 60,000 tourists in 2016. After the shifting, the number of elephants in Sakrebail camp will be reduced from 22 to 17.
The non-permanent workers fear losing their jobs, as the shifting of elephants would result in a reduction of the workload. The staff also express apprehension that reduction in the number of elephants would result in corresponding decrease in the number of visitors.
Mr. Cheluvaraj said that two elephants are already pregnant in the camp and will deliver in three months. Moreover, the Department of Forest and Wildlife will accommodate the rogue elephants trans-located from forests elsewhere in the State at Sakrebail camp. There will not be a reduction in the workload in the camp and the tourist flow will also remain unaffected, he reiterated.