Tamed Elephant Handed Over To Andhra Pradesh To Deal With Man-Elephant Conflict

Bengaluru: As per the agreement entered between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, 4 tamed elephants particularly trained in capture of troublesome elephants in conflict zones were handed over to Andhra Pradesh by Karnataka at a ceremony held in the premises of Vidhana Soudha of Bengaluru city on Wednesday.

Welcoming the tamed elephants to Andhra Pradesh, its Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan assured Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister of Forests and Environment Eshwar Khandre to take good care of tamed elephants handed over to his State. Pawan Kalyan stated “If can hold me liable if anything goes wrong” and assured to monitor the health of tamed elephants at regular intervals.

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan thanked “Karnataka for just for this noble gesture but for standing with us for ecological brotherhood.”

Pawan Kalyan said “Today, is not a mere event but an expression of ecological federalism,” he termed the handover of tamed elephants.

Of the four tamed elephants handed over to Andhra Pradesh, 3 of them were once wild before they were tamed in elephant camps and one elephant was born in captivity.

In August previous year, Andhra Pradesh requested Karnataka to hand over 8 tamed elephants and Karnataka agreed to hand over 6 of them. As of now, 4 have been handed over while two others will be handed over soon.

The names of the tamed elephants handed over to Andhra Pradesh were Krishna aged about 15 years. This jumbo once roamed in the forests of Chikkamagaluru district and was captured after forest officials tagged it ‘troublesome.’ It was captured in 2022.

Abhimanyu, aged 14 years, was captured in Honnali of Davangere district in 2023. It was captured over man-elephant conflicts in the region. Deva, aged 39, was captured in Kushalnagar in 2019 and tamed in an elephant camp. Ramzan, a 26 year old jumbo, was born in captivity in Dubare Elephant camp.

At the handing over ceremony, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated elephants have been handed over to Andhra Pradesh to engage them in elephant capture/driving operations to mitigate man-elephants conflicts. Siddaramaiah stated Karnataka is home to an estimated elephant population of 3,695 which is highest in the country.