Bhubaneswar: Nandankanan Zoological Park in Orissa observed "Elephant Day" on Tuesday as part of a programme to raise awareness about the pachyderm.
Adorned with special customised appliqué apparel, the jumbos were offered banana and coconut by the forest officials on the day.
The prime attraction in the Zoological Park was the site of two orphan elephant calfs 'Chandan' and 'Anant', who were rescued by the Zoological authorities when they were just 3 months old.
"The main objective of celebrating 'Elephant Day' is to create awareness amongst the public on how to conserve the big animal," said Sudershan Panda, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Nandankanan Zoological Park.
Visitors and school children participated in the event, which is part of celebrating the 'Wildlife Week' that began on October 2.
"By celebrating this day we feel very happy and we enjoy a lot. We also get an opportunity to give them food," said Subhashree Sahoo, a schoolgirl.
Home to 50,000 wild Asian elephants a century ago, India had just 26,400 jumbos roaming in its national parks and forests in 2002. However, the first comprehensive Elephant Census published in 2005 showed a steep drop in the numbers to just 21,300.
Most of India's elephants live in protected forest reserves spread across fourteen states from north to south of the country but even these elephants are under pressure from human encroachment and infrastructure development activities.
For centuries, elephants have been chased and shot by hunters and poachers in search of trophies or precious ivory, but of late more prosaic deaths have awaited them: mowed down by speeding trains or electrocuted by fences put around villages and crops.
Comments
0 comment