INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hyderabad: An easy gadget, developed using high-strength woven belts as restraints to limit the motion of captive elephants utilized in
wildlife rescue operations in Maharashtra, has actually led to elimination of painful injuries on the legs of pachyderms triggered by
standard steel chains used as restraints.Industrial strength belts, capable of dealing with loads of more than 5 tonnes, are being used on
These belts, linked to a shackle, are linked to steel chains that afford the animals some space to move
Though the elephants we use are trained, as with all captive elephants, these ones which we use in operations to tranquilise wild animals
consisting of tigers, are connected to chains
However in the past, the chains were wrapped around the legs straight
It was quite common for the elephants to develop wounds since the chains would begin biting into their skins, Dr Ravikant Khobragade, a
wildlife vet working in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, informed this paper
There was as soon as an occurrence of an elephant in 'musth', a state when it is high on testosterone and began pulling the chain on its leg
causing a deep cut and nasty injury and the elephant also eliminated a mahout, he stated
Captive elephants that are chained and often suffer from wounds from steel chains that bite into their legs, and the gadget Khobragade
developed has actually made it much safer for elephants
Khobragade, incidentally, is the wildlife veterinarian on call for any possible capture of tiger A2, a roaming huge cat from Maharashtra
that in November and December last eliminated 2 tribals, a young man and a girl, in Asifabad district of Telangana
The animals are no longer irritated by the steel chains on their legs
The mahouts too are happy, he said, about the brand-new belt restraints being utilized for 5 elephants in Tadoba tiger reserve, and a
couple of more in other tiger reserves in Maharashtra
Numerous states have captive elephants to help in rescue, or tranquilising of wild animals that may stray into human habitations, or need to
be captured for other reasons.
