Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Forest Department has introduced comprehensive facilities including kitchen, restaurant, night shelter, bathing area and a playing field for elephants at the Kumki Elephant Training Centre in Kumarkhunti, located within the Chandaka wildlife division near here.
Opened on March 6 this year, the centre now hosts six elephants, namely Mama, Chandu, Uma, Kartik, Master Jaga, and Shankar. These gentle giants are under the care of 13 mahouts and assistant mahouts from Odisha and Assam. The young pachyderms, separated from their herds, are undergoing training to assist in managing human-elephant conflicts by driving away wild herds from human habitations, officials said.
These elephants have been brought from various forest areas in Odisha, including Similipal and Kapilas, according to Sarat Chandra Behera, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Chandaka wildlife division. To ensure effective training of the elephants, the centre has established several specialised amenities including a restaurant with designated areas for each elephant, Somya Ranjan Beura, a forest officer of Chandaka wildlife division, said.
The day begins with a brisk morning walk and light exercises, followed by a breakfast of bananas, coconuts, carrots, sugar cane, and watermelons at 8:30 am, he said. Post-breakfast, the elephants engage in training activities until lunchtime. After an hour-long bath at Kumarakhunti Dam, the elephants are served a lunch consisting of six kilograms of wheat, five kilograms of rice, one kilogram each of green gram and horse gram, various millets, two to three kilograms of vegetables, four coconuts, bananas, and 500 grams of jaggery, all prepared in a special kitchen, he added.
In the afternoon, the elephants participate in recreational activities such as playing football and demonstrating various skills. As evening approaches, they are led to their night shelters, which are situated in front of the mahouts' houses for close monitoring. These shelters are stocked with grass, tree branches, banana stems, and straw for the elephants to consume overnight.
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