Coimbatore: The annual elephant rejuvenation camp at Thekkampatti was inaugurated on Monday by municipal administration minister S P Velumani, HR and CE minister Sevur S Ramachandran and environment and forest minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan. Twenty-six elephants from 23 temples and three mutts across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry arrived for the 48-day rejuvenation camp.
While 21 are from temples and three from mutts in Tamil Nadu, two elephants are from temples in Puducherry. Last year, 28 elephants participated.
“Two elephants—from Thiruparakundram and Thirukadaiyur temple— who usually attend the camp did not come this year,” an official said. This was also the first year when two elephants—Premi and Andal—came from the same temple—Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. For 22-year-old Premi, this was the first time to attend the camp at Thekkampatti.
For the next 48 days, the elephants will receive 24x7 monitoring by veterinarians—special diet and medication to sort out health issues, plus activities in the 9-acre camp. Many elephants who come with diabetes, obesity and foot wounds will receive medications for the wounds, dressing, etc., and a protein rich diet to regulate diabetes and control obesity.
Besides medication, the elephants will be given time to socialize with each other, be taken on a 5-km walk daily to be physically fit and active and will be allowed to take a shower bath on the banks of the Bhavani twice a day. Each elephant has come with her mahout and an assistant mahout. Public will be allowed to enter and see the camp from behind the barricades but must maintain pandemic restrictions like social distancing and wearing masks.