President Draupadi Murmu visited the Theppakadu elephant camp on Saturday and spent over one-and-a-half hours there, interacting with the mahout couple Bomman and Bellie who had starred in the Oscar-winning documentary ‘Elephant Whisperers’, and other caretakers.
The President who came at 3.30 p.m. from Mysuru airport was received at the helipad by State Ministers K. Ramachandran (Tourism) and M. Mathiventhan (Forests). Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Supriya Sahu, IGP West Zone R. Sudhakar, and District Collector S.P. Amrith were also present.
The President travelled by road to the Theppakadu elephant camp, located about 7 km away, and spent nearly two hours. The President fed sugarcane to elephant Bommi, which was lined up along with two other elephants Kamatchi and Bhama. She spent some time with Raghu, the elephant calf looked after by Bomman and Belli.
On her way back, the President alighted from the car, shook hands with onlookers and gave them chocolates. She boarded the helicopter on her return journey to Mysuru airport at around 5.15 p.m.
A three-tier security was provided to the President throughout by the district police under supervision of Superintendent of Police K. Prabakar. The elephant camp was closed for tourists in view of the President’s visit.
