RANCHI: The elephants once used for jungle safaris are now being deployed to rescue injured elephants in Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR). Following restrictions on the commercial use of elephants, the former safari elephants were retrained and formed into a dedicated rescue brigade.
The brigade consists of four trained elephants: Juhi, Sita, Murgesh, and Rakhi. They are also supposed to play an important role in research work by the experts in the country’s first upcoming Human-Elephant Conflict Research Centre at PTR. Notably, on an average human-elephant conflict claims around 80 lives in Jharkhand every year.
To deal with this problem, country’s first human-elephant conflict research centre is set to be established in PTR. The state government has prepared a proposal for the initiative and identified a nearly 15-acre site inside the reserve for the facility.
The proposed centre will conduct an in-depth analysis of data related to human-elephant conflicts and prepare solution-oriented reports to help mitigate such incidents. It will also make use of AI technology for research and assessment.
According to officials, the four fully trained elephants will be a valuable asset in studying elephant behaviour and vocalisations in different situations, including interactions with other herds, foraging for food, searching for water and signalling danger.
Officials said the initiative aims to help mitigate human-elephant conflict through research and a deeper understanding of elephant behaviour. “These four trained elephants recently played a crucial role in the successful rescue of Bhalla, an elephant that was injured deep inside the forest,” said PTR Deputy Director Prajesh Kant Jena.
Human-jumbo conflict
Officials said the initiative aims to help mitigate human-elephant conflict through research and a deeper understanding of elephant behaviour, with the elephant brigade expected to play a pivotal role in the process. This assumes significance as there are a total of 217 elephants in the state.