Conservation history by elephants in Assam

Guwahati, Feb 24 Six elephant calves, rescued from different parts of Assam and raised in an animal farm in the Kaziranga National park, were Saturday relocated to a wildlife sanctuary in the first such conservation exercise undertaken by India.

The six pachyderms, aged two-and-a-half to six years, were brought by trucks to the Doimari range of the Manas National Park in western Assam from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation located in Kaziranga.

They were shifted under the supervision of experts of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

'The elephants will be reintegrated to a wild herd after they are familiarised to the area. This will be the first exercise in India after Sri Lanka and Kenya too have successfully released hand-raised elephants into the wild,' a WTI statement said.

The six elephants were rescued from different parts of Assam and have been at the rehabilitation centre for the last one to five years.

'The elephants will be allowed to move freely in the jungle during day time under the supervision of the keeper, and at night they will be sheltered in a stockade, built on an area of one hectare (about 10,000 sq. meters) for their security.' N.V.K. Ashraf, director Wild Rescue of WTI, said.

Manas is a prime elephant habitat and located far from the nearest human habitation - ideal for their release, the WTI statement said.

'All the six elephants are being radio-collared for post-release monitoring. In case there is a problem we can follow them for rescue.' said Bhaskar Choudhry, wildlife veterinarian of WTI.

The exercise is part of the elephant rehabilitation programme initiated by WTI and IFAW with support from the Assam Forest Department.

Assam has India's largest population of Asiatic elephants, estimated at around 5,300, according to a wildlife census in 2002.

Human-elephant conflict in Assam has caused major wildlife concerns with the animals killing 239 people in the past five years while 265 elephants have died during the same period. Many of the elephants were victims of retaliation by angry humans, a wildlife department report released recently said.

Last month, two one-horned rhino calves made conservation history when they were moved from the overcrowded Kaziranga to Manas in an attempt to help the endangered animal multiply in new surroundings.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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