Almost every temple elephant carries a spray of pale freckles on its trunk and ears. The patches are natural depigmentation, seen in wild herds too, and the myths we attach to elephants say a great deal about how we treat them.
Captive Elephants
Twenty-seven mahouts and ghasis from Manas National Park have finished a week of training in elephant biology, health and handling, and the reserve’s field director used the opening to call again for a dedicated mahout school in Assam.
The last four of five young elephants sent from Assam to temples in Tamil Nadu this month reached their new homes late last week, completing a transfer the Gauhati High Court declined to stop but has asked Assam to account for, in a detailed affidavit on the animals’ welfare, before it hears the case again on 15 October.
Madhuri, a female elephant known in Kolhapur as Mahadevi, is returning home after 13 months at Vantara in Jamnagar, Gujarat, under a court-backed order that keeps Vantara’s vets checking on her every fortnight.
Sixteen elephants at Kanha Tiger Reserve clocked out of patrol duty this week for a six-day break.