The elephant camp of the Forest department at Konni is witnessing a steady increase in the number of visitors, thanks to two cute calf elephants at the camp.
The calves include a male and a female. The female calf was brought from Nilambur. Local people had found it flowing through a river along the forest fringes about nine months ago. She was rescued by the Forest department personnel and taken to the Konni camp for better care.
“She was hardly two months old when the Forest officials appointed me as her caretaker,” says Haneefa, a retired master trainer of captive elephants in Konni. The male calf was brought to the camp when it was hardly five months old. This calf was rescued by the Forest personnel when it was found stranded along the forest fringes of Kadappupara, near Achencoil, says Haneefa.
In loving hands
Both the calves stand about three-foot tall and Haneefa and his assistants are busy caring them.
Mr. Haneefa told The Hindu that the calves were active and had started exploring the sprawling elephant camp in the presence of its caretakers. Sukumaran, Aneesh and Ramesh, mahouts at the camp, are assisting Haneefa.
The calves will be taken out of the kraal in the morning for familiarising them with nature.
They are fed lactogen and a savoury paste of cereals, pulses, turmeric, salt, jaggery, plantains, and so on every day.
The department spends Rs.2,000 a day on each calf for feeding.
The naming of the two calves will be made by Forest Minister K. Raju, who is expected to visit the camp this month.
The Konni ecotourism project was launched as a joint venture of the Forest department and the Tourism department on the sprawling nine-acre camp premises at Konni town way back in 2007.
