To have a hands-on experience on the functioning of an elephant camp, 38 induction trainees from six different states and 11 officer trainees and students of Central Academy for State Forest Services visited Chadivayal elephant camp at the foothills of Siruvani on the outskirts of Coimbatore.
N.S Manoharan, Forest Veterinary Officer, educated the trainees on various behaviour of elephants, general anatomy and the relationship which is maintained between the mahout and the elephants. They were taught on how the elephants were managed inside the camp and how kumkis followed the instructions given to them to do various jobs.
The trainees witnessed the bond between elephants Pari and Sujayand their mahouts K. Vijayan and A. Devaraj, and cavadis Kumar and Maradhan. They also witnessed how the elephants obeyed the instructions given to them and the ability of the mahouts in understanding the requirement of the elephants through their behaviour.
The trainees experienced the working of the front line staff in mitigating human-animal conflict. K. Anandh, Conservator of Forests of CASAFOS, S. Ramasubramanian, Conservator of Forests - Coimbatore Circle, project Kaliru team, documented the event.
Nature enthusiasts T.S.A. Arundavaselvan, Vivaki, Aravind, Surya and Anash led by wildlife conservationists N.I. Jalaluddin, president of Nature Conservation Society and R.Mohammed Saleem, president of Environment Conservation Group, accompanied the trainee officers. The trainees were also exposed to the demonstration on the usage of thermal camera.
