KUPPADI:The innovative ambulance service has winch and rope facility to carry the elephants to the vehicle. A newly purchased lorry was converted into an ambulance in Mettur in Tamil Nadu district. The ambulance has other facilities like water tank to carry drinking water for animals and a medicine cabinet.
Though the ambulance has a veterinary doctor with darting guns and other equipment on board, currently the post is lying vacant. “The Forest Department has submitted a proposal to the government to fill the vacancy at the earliest,” said Sudheer.
Meanwhile, the department has sought six Kumki elephants from Karnataka Forest Department. Though the Karnataka Forest Department gave six Kumkis, the state Forest Department selected only two for the purpose and the rest were rejected due to some defects. “The paper works for transferring the Kumkis are underway,” said a Forest Department official.
The inauguration of the ambulance will be conducted after consulting with the Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF).