Elephant Day celebrations enthralled children and people who thronged the Sakrebailu Elephant Camp, about 15 km away from Shimoga city on Sunday.
The celebrations were organised by the Department of Forest (Wildlife) as part of the valedictory function of the 59th Wildlife Week. The celebrations began with a march past by the elephants, mahouts and Forest Department staff.
Wildlife Week celebrations are organised to make children, students and people realise the significance of biodiversity. This was the sixth successive edition of Elephant Day celebrations at the camp.
The celebrations were a family affair as families from Shimoga and surrounding areas witnessed an elephant walk the ramp, play cricket, basketball and football. There was also an elephant herd dance. The herd was led by 23-year-old Sagar, all donning colourful costumes.
The mahouts, decked in vibrant attire, played a key role in making their elephants play and dance.
Impressive Show
In competitions for the jumbos, senior citizen of the camp Kapila bagged the first place in catwalk while Sagar came in second and 80-year-old Indira secured the third prize.
The tuskers wielded the willow as their mahouts bowled to them. They showed off their basketball skills and made the children’s day with their football game.
The elephants won rounds of thunderous applause when they sent the ball rolling into the nets.
Egged on by audiences screaming their names out loud, the elephants put up a great show.
Amrutha, a tusker who favours the ‘Lungi Dance’ number from ‘Chennai Express’, could not perform in front of the large gathering as she refused to give in to her mahouts’ coaxing.
The only negative aspect was that of the 18 elephants at the camp, only seven participated in the celebrations.
Three-year-old Surya, in his colourful dress, walked out to a large gathering for the first time.
The elephants who stayed away from the celebrations include puerperal Nethravathi who was with her two-month-old calf, tuskers Rowdy Ranga, Manikantha, Ganesh, Raghavendra and another elephant belonging to Shamanur Shivashankarappa of Davangere.
The event drew to an end when these jumbos sprinkled water on the visitors. Chairman of Legislative Council D H Shankaramurthy inaugurated the celebrations.