NILGIRIS: Forest officials in the Nilgiris expressed their gratitude to elephants with Elephant Pongal. Twenty-eight elephants maintained by the forest department took part in the Elephant Pongal organised at Theppakadu in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Monday.
Pongal was prepared in five pots amidst traditional music and dances by tribals. Collector SP Amrith and Superintendent of Police S Prabhakaran and Field Director of MTR D Venkatesh took part in the event. “Elephant Pongal is organised to raise awareness about the behaviour of elephants among tourists and also to express gratitude to the captive and Kumki elephants that help the forest department mitigate human-elephant conflict,” Venkatesh said.
Similarly, 23 out of the 26 elephants maintained in Kozhikamuthi tribal settlement in Ulanthy forest range in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) near Pollachi took part in Pongal celebration held in the presence of Deputy Director of ATR K Bhargava Teja. Three elephants, including Kumki Kaleem, couldn’t take part in the event as they are in Sathymangalam Tiger Reserve in Erode as part of capturing Karuppan elephant.