COIMBATORE: The ongoing annual rejuvenation camp for temple and mutt elephants at Thekkampatti near Mettupalayam is currently well underway and officials have made sure that elephants are well looked after.
Officials said that from a diet plan based on their weight to the treatment of external wounds, the elephants are being treated at the earliest by a dedicated team from the animal husbandry department.
After checking the health of 28 elephants currently present at the camp, five elephants have been found to have heel cracks and footbath treatment was given to them in the last few days.
The animals are Lakshmi from Malaikottai (Tiruchy district), Lakshmi from Puducherry, Dharmambal of Thiruvaiyaru (Thanjavur district), Kasthuri from Palani (Dindigul district) and Kalyani of Perur (Coimbatore district).
Speaking to TNIE, a senior official from the animal husbandry department said, "We have prepared a medicine that has six medicinal ingredients and have instructed the mahouts to mix in a bucket of water and place the leg of the elephant that needs treatment, inside the bucket for half an hour in the morning and evening. This practice will be continued for a week and already were are seeing good results."
"The medicine will cure external wounds on the elephant's foot and nail and as well as heel cracks which might have developed as they were standing for long hours in captivity. We have been checking the health of the animals continuously.
Apart from cracked heels, we did not find any other health-related complications. The elephants are enjoying the round-the-clock care," the official added
The officials also said that they have taken dung samples of the elephants to check whether the pachyderms have parasites in their stomach.