Mahouts in the Dubare Elephant Camp near Kushalnagar in Kodagu, rallying under the banner of Budakattu Krishikara Sangha, a tribal organisation, staged a protest on Friday to draw the attention of the State Government to confirm their services.
They let the 21 captive elephants at the camp, including three calves, into the forests for grazing at 7 a.m. as a measure of protest and refused to bring them back in the afternoon. The elephants, barring a few used in safaris, are let into forests after 11 a.m. and brought back to the camp around 4 p.m. regularly.
Dubare Elephant Camp wore a deserted look as visitors had to wait on the other side of the Cauvery and return disappointed as they could not reach the camp by crossing the river in the absence of boats. Boat operators had cried off following the strike.
Mahouts, led by president of the Somwarpet taluk unit of the sangha R.K. Chandra, alleged that of the 26 mahouts working with the Forest Department in the camp, the services of 10 were yet to be regularised. The services of the mahouts were expected to be regularised in three stages, but the Government had not confirmed the services of 10 mahouts for the last one year, he alleged.
The mahouts also expressed ire over the handing over of certain identified captive elephants at the camp to the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The Union Government has accorded permission to the State Government to hand over 11 captive elephants to the Government of Madhya Pradesh, mostly for use in safaris in that State. And, 29 elephants have been shortlisted from various elephant camps in the State, including four from the Madikeri Wildlife Division (Dubare) in Kodagu. They are Kaveri (33), Mayura (23), Chandra (28) and Parashurama (6).
Mr. Chandra blamed elected representatives for taking up the issue of confirming the mahouts' services. If the identified elephants were handed over to the Government of Madhya Pradesh, it would deprive the mahouts of work in the camp, besides robbing the camp of its charm, he said. They were also sore about the absence of the forest officials who failed to visit the spot till 1 p.m.
Nearly 1,000 tourists visit Dubare daily with the numbers swelling during weekends.
