On a hot summer day, Sandhya, 46 enjoys her bath at a pond, while Rohini, 25, relishes a special diet filled with dates that is fed to her by her mahout. Elsewhere their friends are either swallowing ragi balls or lazing around playfully. That is the typical life at the Elephant Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, a first-of-its-kind facility for captive elephants, established in September 2019 in a forest-like atmosphere at M.R Palayam near Tiruchi.
Entry is barred for visitors unlike in other camps where tourists could watch the jumbos being fed and bathed. The reason is that the centre is a retreat for captive elephants, which faced abuse or neglect from its owners. Rohini has been given a special diet as she was weak when she came to the centre, explains a Forest Department official.
The Forest Department has been translocating ill-treated elephants, identified on the basis of information or complaints, to the centre spread over 19 hectares in the Reserve Forest, off the Tiruchi-Chennai National Highway.
