The 10th annual rejuvenation camp for temple and mutt elephants began on Thursday on the banks of River Bhavani, behind Vanabadrakali Amman temple near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district.
Twenty-six elephants from temples and five from mutts across the State and two “guests” from Puducherry reached the camp on Wednesday and Thursday. Aged and ailing elephants and those that resisted boarding the truck have been exempted from the camp. The State-sponsored camp will go on till February 20. The outlay for this year’s camp has been raised to ₹1.51-crore. The allocation last year was ₹1.04-crore, while expenses touched ₹1.16-crore.
Minister for Forests Dindigul C. Sreenivasan and Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Sevvoor S. Ramachandran inaugurated the camp. Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Commissioner R. Jaya, Collector T.N. Hariharan, District Forest Officer N. Satheesh and Superintendent of Police Pa. Murthy were present.
Elephants were lined up and fed with sugarcane, fruits and jaggery at the start of the 48-day camp, during which they will have nutritious food, medicines to pep up their health, a good shower and a brisk walk twice a day. Elephant handlers will also be trained to manage the animals during the camp.
Though from different temples or mutts, elephants strike a bond among themselves at every camp. On Thursday, the mahouts had a tough time separating Abirami of Amirthagadeswarar Temple and Booma from Oppiliyappan Temple.
A solar and battery-powered fence and focus lights have been put up around the camp to prevent wild elephants from entering it. Fifty watchers have also been posted to chase these away, Mr. Satheesh said.
Forest Veterinerian N.S. Monoharan said the elephants were brought after a medical check-up and after giving them vaccination and deworming tablets. They were also certified fit to travel.
Seven teams from the Animal Husbandry Department will monitor the health of the elephants, said Joint Director of Animal Husbandry S.C. Chandrasekaran.
Ms. Jaya said that on arrival, the health condition of the elephants was been assessed. She said the public would be allowed into the camp from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to see the elephants up close from two places.
