After being confined to kralls (wooden enclosures for taming and training elephants) for about five months at Bambax, a secluded part of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), three elephants were brought out in an operation organised by wildlife officials on Saturday.
The three elephants, a female aged about 20, a male aged around 13 and a male calf aged about four years had been captured at Thiruvannamalai with the help of kumki elephants.
The captured elephants were part of a herd which had been straying into habitations near the Javadhu hills.
Forest sources told The Hindu that the objective was to keep them in good health. They had been provided with handlers and given round-the-clock attention.
Originally it was expected that they would be kept in their kralls for only about 45 days. With officials and their handlers opining that they were ready to be brought out, the animals had been taken out and given a bath in the nearby river. The next course of action would be decided shortly.
