: Elephant Day on Friday brought cheer to the jumbos at the Muthanga elephant kraal under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) who were treated to a sumptuous fare.
The jumbos, including three trained elephants (Kumki elephants) and three orphaned baby elephants, were given coconut, sugarcane, plantain fruits and cucumber apart from the daily ration of wheat and ragi with jaggery.
A huge crowd, including Forest officials, students and villagers, had gathered there to feed the elephants.
Wildlife warden P. Dhaneshkumar inaugurated the ‘anayoottu’ by feeding elephant Kuju, the eldest member of the camp.
“The main objective of celebrating Elephant Day is to sensitise the public to the significance of the species in the animal kingdom and how to conserve the big animal,” S. Heeralal, Assistant Wildlife Warden, WWS, told The Hindu .
Bomman, an elderly tribal mahout at the kraal, was honoured on the occasion. The tribal mahouts, led by Mr .Bomman, performed Gaja puja in connection with the anayoottu.
Quiz for students
Students, who were invited to the function, spent the day in the company of Ammu, Appu and Chnadu, three orphaned elephant calves. A quiz programme was held for the students .
More elephants
“The number of trained elephants may be doubled soon as we are trying to bring four more trained elephants from Kottur and Konni kraals of the Department to expand the elephant squad to tackle the increasing man-animal conflict in the district,” Mr. Dhaneshkumar said.
