A marginal improvement in the weather enabled Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to make a trip by road to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) near here on Tuesday.
Ms. Jayalalithaa offered delicacies such as jaggery, jackfruit, banana and sugarcane to an elephant calf, Cauvery, and two adult pachyderms , Mudumalai and Moorthy, at Theppakadu elephant camp.
Cauvery, which was in a playful mood, took the Chief Minister by surprise by gently nudging her with its trunk. Later, Ms. Jayalalithaa moved to Kargudy and drove through a part of the reserve before returning to Kodanad near Kotagiri, where she has been staying since the end of June.
She told reporters at Theppakadu that the MTR was among the best in the country, adding that the government would take all steps to preserve it.
Rajya Sabha MP K.R. Arjunan and Nilgiris Collector Archana Patnaik were present.
Earlier, while proceeding to the MTR, the Chief Minister stopped at a couple of places, including Charing Cross, to receive petitions.