Manas (Assam): The six hand raised elephant calves being readied for release in a National Park in the eastern Indian Assam state are enjoying the monsoons, frolicking in the swelling streams and eating the new shoots of grass that have sprung out of the wet earth.
After months of dry weather and shrinking streams, the continuous rain in the last fortnight has brought with it an abundance of food and water.
The calves were brought to Doimari in Manas National Park from their earlier home in Kaziranga, about 350 kms away in February this year, as part of a plan to rehabilitate them in the wild.
All of them were between 1 to 2 years old when they were rescued from different parts of Assam, and were hand raised at the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga.
“Since the food is in plenty these days, the elephants are very excited and stay out long hours for forage. But sometimes we are worried, when they move to faraway places and remain out of sight,” Tarun Gogoi, one of the animal keepers who looks after the elephants said.
The monsoon season which receives maximum rainfall in India, is crucial to the environment, as is the economy and to the millions of farmers across the country.
Though, the season’s first rains are encountered in May in southern India, it usually reaches parts of eastern India by mid June.
This year though, incessant rain in Assam has raised the water level in a number of important rivers, raising fears of floods, which have periodically affected thousands of people including wildlife in the past.
Park officials involved in the acclimatization process said favourable conditions in Manas are tempting the pachyderms to step out of their usual foraging grounds.
Conservation organizations, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) had built a night shelter for the elephant calves deep inside the Doimari forests to protect them from predators.
The calves were radio-collared and two animal keepers have been assigned so that they can be monitored round the clock.
But fresh thickets of tall grasses in the habituation site have hindered the constant watch maintained by various attendants since they were brought here.
“The prevailing climatic condition is not helping either to collect accurate data from the radio-collars on their whereabouts,” said Dr.
Bhaskar Choudhury, WTI’s veterinarian in Doimari.
“Their desire for freedom is a natural progression, since we habituated them to behave that way. This programme will help them to return to wilderness.”
The Manas National Park, a world heritage site, is home to more than 600 wild elephants, besides a wide variety of rare mammal and avian species.
The elephant calves had created history, when they became the first in India to be returned to the wild after being hand raised.
CWRC is India’s first multi-species rescue and rehabilitation center set up jointly by WTI and IFAW with support from the Assam Forest Department in the year 2002.
