Tadoba now wants to be rid of elephant family (State of Maharashtra, India)
The Times of India
May 7, 2021
See link
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/tadoba-now-wants-to-be-rid-of-elephant-family/articleshowprint/82464176.cms
for photo.
NAGPUR: After Thursday’s incident in which Gajraj, a 25-year-old elephant
of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), killed forest department chief
accountant Pramod Gaurkar, the park management has proposed to send the
herd to some rehabilitation centre. Gaurkar is the third human victim of
Gajraj.
The problem elephant was darted and captured during early hours of Friday.
It had returned to its resting place near the pond in Botezari and a
waiting team sedated it and chained it to a tree at 5am. The teams were on
toes throughout the night apprehending it might intrude into Kolsa and
Rantalodhi villages. The villagers were also alerted about the aggressive
elephant and were advised to remain inside homes.
Besides Gajraj, there are four elephants at Botezari camp in Kolsa range of
TATR. It includes Laxmi (23), Sushila (19), Vishwa (2.5 years), and
Bahubali (1.5 years). Following Gajraj’s aggressive behaviour, the herd was
shifted in November last to Botezari, a relocated village in Kolsa.
“The elephants have become a liability. They are not trained. They were to
be utilized in times of man-animal conflict in areas where vehicles cannot
go. These tuskers have now become pets and also cannot be used for even
tourism purposes,” said Jitendra Ramgaonkar, conservator of forest & field
director, TATR.
“At present, Gajraj is in musth and hence aggressive. A proposal on rehab
of the elephants will be sent to the PCCF (wildlife) after things get
right. Meanwhile, we will invite elephant expert Anand Shinde from Mumbai
after May 15 to take his inputs on future course of action,” said
Ramgaonkar.
Even deputy director (core) Nandkishore Kale was for sending the elephants
to the conservation centre at Agra. “We spend Rs 25 lakh annually on these
elephants. We shifted the herd from Mohurli to Botezari to get rid of
conflict owing to Gajraj's aggressive behaviour but it has again turned
violent,” Kale said.
Wildlife conservationists stated if elephants are to be kept, the park
needed to fill permanent posts of two mahouts and a feed cutter that are
lying vacant. “The present caretakers are not trained to handle these
elephants. A similar conflict is also seen in the elephant camp at Kamlapur
in Gadchiroli due to the inept handling of the situations by mahouts,” they
said.
“The elephants need to be trained by sending them to states like Karnataka
or Kerala so they can be used for patrolling during the rainy season. Post
Avni tigress episode, there was a plan to set up elephant camps in tiger
reserves on the lines of MP but it was never materialized,” they added.
Elephant expert Anand Shinde said, “In November we successfully shifted the
camp even when Gajraj was in musth. I’m surprised the animal is again
aggressive. I need to examine it before making conclusions.”
“Providing feed twice a day is one part of caretaking. The elephants also
understand the way you interact with them. You have to deal with them very
politely and keep them busy. Mahout behaviour plays a crucial role,” he
added.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/tadoba-now-wants-to-be-rid-of-elephant-family/articleshowprint/82464176.cms
Tadoba now wants to be rid of elephant family (State of Maharashtra, India)
The Times of India
May 7, 2021
See link
<https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/tadoba-now-wants-to-be-rid-of-elephant-family/articleshowprint/82464176.cms>
for photo.
NAGPUR: After Thursday’s incident in which Gajraj, a 25-year-old elephant
of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), killed forest department chief
accountant Pramod Gaurkar, the park management has proposed to send the
herd to some rehabilitation centre. Gaurkar is the third human victim of
Gajraj.
The problem elephant was darted and captured during early hours of Friday.
It had returned to its resting place near the pond in Botezari and a
waiting team sedated it and chained it to a tree at 5am. The teams were on
toes throughout the night apprehending it might intrude into Kolsa and
Rantalodhi villages. The villagers were also alerted about the aggressive
elephant and were advised to remain inside homes.
Besides Gajraj, there are four elephants at Botezari camp in Kolsa range of
TATR. It includes Laxmi (23), Sushila (19), Vishwa (2.5 years), and
Bahubali (1.5 years). Following Gajraj’s aggressive behaviour, the herd was
shifted in November last to Botezari, a relocated village in Kolsa.
“The elephants have become a liability. They are not trained. They were to
be utilized in times of man-animal conflict in areas where vehicles cannot
go. These tuskers have now become pets and also cannot be used for even
tourism purposes,” said Jitendra Ramgaonkar, conservator of forest & field
director, TATR.
“At present, Gajraj is in musth and hence aggressive. A proposal on rehab
of the elephants will be sent to the PCCF (wildlife) after things get
right. Meanwhile, we will invite elephant expert Anand Shinde from Mumbai
after May 15 to take his inputs on future course of action,” said
Ramgaonkar.
Even deputy director (core) Nandkishore Kale was for sending the elephants
to the conservation centre at Agra. “We spend Rs 25 lakh annually on these
elephants. We shifted the herd from Mohurli to Botezari to get rid of
conflict owing to Gajraj's aggressive behaviour but it has again turned
violent,” Kale said.
Wildlife conservationists stated if elephants are to be kept, the park
needed to fill permanent posts of two mahouts and a feed cutter that are
lying vacant. “The present caretakers are not trained to handle these
elephants. A similar conflict is also seen in the elephant camp at Kamlapur
in Gadchiroli due to the inept handling of the situations by mahouts,” they
said.
“The elephants need to be trained by sending them to states like Karnataka
or Kerala so they can be used for patrolling during the rainy season. Post
Avni tigress episode, there was a plan to set up elephant camps in tiger
reserves on the lines of MP but it was never materialized,” they added.
Elephant expert Anand Shinde said, “In November we successfully shifted the
camp even when Gajraj was in musth. I’m surprised the animal is again
aggressive. I need to examine it before making conclusions.”
“Providing feed twice a day is one part of caretaking. The elephants also
understand the way you interact with them. You have to deal with them very
politely and keep them busy. Mahout behaviour plays a crucial role,” he
added.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/tadoba-now-wants-to-be-rid-of-elephant-family/articleshowprint/82464176.cms