Elephant ambassadors of Kannada

Many States want them for forest duties, but they understand only one language


In a twist in the saga of human-animal conflict, animals captured in one part of the country are helping protect forests in other areas.

Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, which had just 13 elephants to patrol the vast terai, recently imported 10 from Karnataka. Three more elephants will join a proposed elephant camp in Jharkhand’s Palamu Tiger Reserve. Uttarakhand, among the first to import elephants — nine have been working in Corbett Tiger Reserve since 2016 — wants 16 more: six for Rajaji Tiger Reserve and 10 for Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary. “We don’t have permission or trained personnel who can capture wild elephants and train them,” says Digvijay Khati, Chief Wildlife Warden. “In Karnataka, they have a system and were willing to donate.” Inquiries have also come from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.


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