Elephants at a conservation camp at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu.
With more than 50 per cent of the 300 temple elephants in Tamil Nadu
suffering from diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, authorities have drawn
up a food and exercise regimen for the jumbos and directed the mahouts
to strictly follow it.
An official of the Tamil Nadu government’s Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowments department said the plan had been drawn up to
ensure proper care of the elephants.
It has been made compulsory for the mahouts to take elephants in their
care for a six km walk daily and also provide them shower bath twice a
day in places where there was no pond or lake or river, to improve their
health.
“Some mahouts are being trained at the Vandalur Zoo on the outskirts of Chennai,” he said.
A menu for the temple elephants had also been suggested and it includes
250 kg of grass, 50 kg of mango, neem or banyan leaves, seven kg of
rice, 1.5kg of green gram, 1.5 kg of oats, 1.5 kg of jaggery, 100 gm
salt, 25gm turmeric powder, 350 litres of drinking water, and 12
bananas.
In addition to this, 3.5 litres of coconut oil, one kg of Ashta choornam
(ayurvedic powder), 50 gm dry ginger and pepper, 3.5 kg chyavanpraas
(Ayurvedic tonic) and 28 multi—vitamin tablets were also to be given.
“Recently we have started feeding three kg of rice flakes and 400 gms of
dates also, to keep the blood of the elephants pure,” he said.
The health condition of the elephants had started deteriorating after
the “special camp for elephants to rejuvenate their health” was stopped
four years ago, the official said.
Besides, temple authorities had been instructed not to allow the temple
elephants bless devotees following the advice of the veterinary doctors
that they could catch infection from devotees.
The jumbos take part in all temple festivals. Part of their job include transporting cans of water for poojas.
Costs of maintaining the elephants had also gone up with the food bill
coming around Rs. 30,000 a month per elephant, compared to the Rs.
16,000 to Rs. 18,000 two years ago.
The medicine cost would come to Rs. 3000 a month and the mahout’s salary
around Rs. 7000 on an average. The cost would be brought down a bit if
donors provide food for the elephants for a day or two, the official
said
The government had sanctioned up to Rs. Five lakh for each temple to put
up a shower, and also fill the temple shed with grass and sand to
present a sort of forest ambience for the elephants, a Government
veterinary doctor said.
Elephants prefer sleeping on a sand bed than a granite surface, he said.
Padmanabhan, Joint Commissioner and Executive officer of Sri Meenakshi
temple, said a medical check-up has been ordered for the temple
elephants once a fortnight.
Officials said doctors checking the elephants regularly were confident of their health improving.
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