NILGRIS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Bomman and Bellie, the couple who featured in the Oscar-winning documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’.
He met with the couple and interacted with them at the Theppakadu elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), Nilgiris district.
The PM interacted with the couple and the mahouts at the camp, fed elephants sugarcane and caressed them. Ragu and Bommi - the elephants featured in the documentary - were among the other elephants the PM visited at the camp.
Later, Modi tweeted saying what a delight it was to meet the tribal couple and Ragu.
The PM appreciated the tribal people’s elephant designs made of the Lantana camara plant, an invasive species that grows inside the forest.
The PM also interacted with Mudumalai Tiger Reserve’s anti-poaching watchers Bomman, Madhan and Meena Kalan. These officials were key in capturing the tiger T23 alive in the reserve.
Modi left for Masinagudi from Theppakkadu, where he is meeting with the reserve’s field directors.
Earlier in the morning, PM took a vehicle safari in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve where he saw elephants, spotted deer and Gaur.