It was a special day for the 11 elephants, including three calves, at the Muthanga elephant kraal under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) on August 12.
A small crowd including forest officials, gathered at the Muthanga elephant kraal to feed the animals on the occasion of World Elephant Day. The programme was organised by the Forest and Wildlife Department in line with COVID-19 protocol.
“The main objective of celebrating Elephant Day is to recognise the importance of elephants in our ecosystem. It also focuses on spreading awareness on their preservation and protection, wildlife warden S. Narendra Babu, told The Hindu .
Besides their daily ration of wheat and ragi with jaggery, the elephants were given coconut, sugarcane, maize, papaya, pineapple, apple, bananas and cucumber on the occasion.
Mr. Babu inaugurated the ‘anayoottu’ by feeding Sundari, a trained elephant at the camp after delivering a message commemorating World Elephant Day.
A. Chandran, an elderly tribal mahout of Anapanthi tribal hamlet at Muthanga, performed a gaja pooja in connection with the 'anayoottu'. As many as 22 tribal mahouts were honoured on the occasion. The Social Forestry division, Wayanad, organised a webinar in connection with the programme. Assistant wildlife warden K. Hashif presided over the function.