more-in After the rejuvenation camp for temple and mutt elephants, the annual 30-day camp for 46 captive/tamed elephants of the Forests Department began on Tuesday at Theppakadu in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris, and at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve at Top Slip, and Chadivayal, at the foothills of Siruvani -- all these in Coimbatore. At the Mudumalai reserve, its Field Director Srinivas K. Reddy said the elephants at the Bombax and ET Mara camps would be fed a special diet of fodder and minerals, in addition to their normal diet. “The camp has also come at an opportune time as the extra fodder that will be given to the elephants will help them for the next few weeks, especially after a few very dry months,” Mr. Reddy told reporters. The 22 elephants were already at these camps since the beginning of the year after two popular camp elephants died of a bacterial infection. The Theppakadu Elephant Camp, where visitors were allowed to see the elephants, has also since been closed to the public. This is the first rejuvenation camp for one of the elephants that was captured in the Gudalur Forest Division in 2016. E. Vijayaraghavan, forest veterinarian at the tiger reserve, said the health of the animals would monitored closely , and treatment done whenever necessary. Deputy Director of MTR, V.A. Saravanan, was also present during the inauguration of the rejuvenation camp. At Top Slip, Field Director of ATR V. Ganesan inaugurated the camp for 22 elephants from Chinnar and Varagliyar camps. Elephants were provided with nutritious and balanced diet based on a diet chart prepared by veterinarians based on the gender, age, weight and height. At Chadivayal, two tamed/trained kumki elephants Pari and Sujay are undergoing rejuvenation. A team led by Range Officer C. Dinesh Kumar has been constituted by Conservator of Forests – Coimbatore Circle I. Anwardeen and District Forest Officer S. Ramasubramanian to oversee the camp.

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