Ghee Dropped From Dasara Elephants' Menu

BENGALURU: Serving ghee to tamed elephants participating in Mysore Dasara festivities has been dropped this year after a Committee of wildlife veterinarians of forest department found ghee to be the culprit for jumbos gaining drastic weight during their stay in Mysuru city. While ghee is out of elephants’ menu, watermelon, muskmelon, horse gram and finger millet make it to the diet list of dasara jumbos this year.

Forest officials came across drastic weight gain in about two-months during previous Dasara festivities and a Committee was constituted to find the reason for elephants gaining weight in a short span of time, pointing out that serving ghee to the tamed elephants made them gain weight which could turn into obesity.

Trained elephants arrive in Mysuru city from various elephant camps and participate in Dasara festivities especially jumbo savaari (on Vijayadashmi day), elephant march from Mysore Palace premises to Bannimantap covering a distance of about 5-km and the procession of elephants is a major crowd-puller.

A senior forest officer told Deccan Chronicle on Monday ghee is not naturally liked by elephants except the ghee acts as a laxative. But, drastic weight gain baffled the forest officials and after it was identified that serving butter to elephants led to gaining weight. Now a decision has been taken to discontinue the butter servings this year.

He, however, stated “I don’t know when ghee was part of the diet for Dasara elephants but it was part of the diet the previous year.”

Out of 14 elephants, four elephants relished and others refused but all of them gained weight. Even vets stated serving ghee to elephants had no health benefits for elephants and a decision was taken to drop ghee servings from the menu of dasara elephants, the officer said.

Deputy Conservator of Forests Prabhu Gowda said apart from serving branch fodder, gram gram, black gram, 5 types of vegetables among variety of foods to the dasara elephants, from this year, finger millet and horse gram are newly introduced in elephants’ diet along with watermelon and muskmelon.

DCF stated water melon and musk melon have been added to the menu to balance body heat in elephants. Over care given to elephants, head and foot massages for dasara elephants will continue and dasara elephants are in excellent health, at the moment.