Two Pench elephants to be trained to control wild elephants in Vidarbha

The forest department has stepped up efforts to curb the growing conflict between humans and elephants in Vidarbha. As part of this, two tame male Asian elephants of the Pench Tiger Reserve will be trained to deal with wild elephants.

An elephant camp was set up at Chorbahuli in the Pench Tiger Reserve. Two elephants, Bhima and Subramaniam, are kept there so that they can help prevent human-elephant conflict and in rescue operations. Bhima is 55 years old and Subramaniam is 27. The forest department is making every effort to get both specially trained.

Sources said a team of experts from Karnataka will come to Pench and train Bhima and Subramaniam. Once the training is complete, it will help greatly in preventing attacks by wild elephants in other districts of Vidarbha, including Gadchiroli, Gondia and Chandrapur. In affected areas, they can be used to control wild elephants.

Bhima and Subramaniam were brought from Karnataka in 2023. Both elephants had been captured in Maharashtra itself, but were sent to Karnataka because there was no permanent place for them.

Forest officials said that along with training the elephants, the safety of the mahout is also extremely important in controlling wild elephants. Wild elephants are quite aggressive. If anything untoward happens while calming one, the mahout's life can be in danger. That is why these elephants must be fully trained.

For the past few years, herds of wild elephants have been damaging crops and residential areas in Vidarbha. A herd that came to Vidarbha from Chhattisgarh about three years ago first stayed in Gondia. It then moved through Gadchiroli to Telangana. The herd has been moving back and forth between Maharashtra and Telangana. To deal with it, the forest department is preparing a comprehensive management and control plan. Until now, these elephants have been used in tiger rescue operations in Pench and the surrounding tiger reserves.

Such trained elephants are called kumki elephants. Kumki elephants are brought in when a wild elephant turns violent or enters settlements and causes havoc. In dense forests or difficult terrain where vehicles cannot reach, the forest department uses them to dart a wild elephant with a tranquilliser. With their strength and calm temperament, they guide wild elephants or drive them back towards the forest.

They also help in locating, rescuing and treating wild elephants that are injured, sick or stuck in a swamp. They are prepared so that they do not panic even under stress and danger, and obey only the orders of their mahout.