Fresh menu for captive jumbos to spare forest greens

COIMBATORE: Captive elephants in Mudumalai have now got a change in their menu as they are fed with fresh and green fodder instead of tree barks and branches.

Perhaps, the forest department has introduced the new diet plan for jumbos on a pilot basis to prevent the degeneration of the forest cover.

“The elephants have been given green fodder since Pongal (January 16) and they have adapted well to the new diet regime. This is besides the supplementary food like ragi, kollu, and rice given during the mornings and evenings,” said C Vidya, Deputy Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).

Elephants in the wild keep grazing for up to 18 hours a day to meet their nutritional requirements and go under rest for barely a few hours.

The camp elephants are usually taken for grazing in the forest area during the day. On their return to the campsite around evening, the mahouts and ‘kavadis’ bring along lopped tree branches to be given as fodder for elephants at night.

Years of grazing in forests over a few kilometers around the campsite has invariably led to the depletion of forest resources and as well a drastic drop in fodder availability for elephants, particularly during the summer season.

Unable to find fodder, the mahouts venture into deep forests despite the risks involved in finding fodder for elephants. “So it was decided to serve green fodder to elephants at their site and thereby allow green cover in the forests to regenerate. Some fodder varieties like napier grass, maize, sorghum, buffelgrass, reed grass, and bamboo have been recommended by veterinarians to be given to elephants. More varieties among the identified 14 species of fodder will be introduced in due course of time. Two tonnes of green fodder is procured every two days to meet the food needs of 27 elephants in the camp,” the official said.

Currently, the fodder is sourced in bulk on contract upon ensuring that they are free from pesticides. And, the forest department is also mulling over a plan of growing fodder outside the forest area to be given to elephants in due course of time. An elephant’s quantum of food requirements varies depending on their gender, age, retirement from service, and as well as during the ‘musth’ phase.

Apart from the new list of fodder varieties, they were also continued to be given with some used to green fodder like ‘koonthal panai’.

Mahouts are now heaving a sigh of relief with the newly introduced diet as they need not have to face difficulty in sourcing fodder for elephants anymore. “When an elephant is in ‘musth’, they wouldn’t be taken for grazing and kept tied in the campsite, so far. Sourcing and bringing fodder for them in bulk used to be a big challenge. Elephants usually prefer tree species like ficus trees and grewia, which don’t regenerate,” said a mahout in Mudumalai.

In the coming days, the forest department has plans to take up a study to ensure that elephants get their nutritional requirements fulfilled with the new diet. They will also be weighed to find out if there are any physical changes, and a dung analysis will be done as part of the examination, say authorities.