Bengaluru: In the wake of the Dubare camp tragedy, where a woman tourist and an elephant died within 24 hours, the Karnataka forest department has initiated the drafting of a comprehensive standard operating procedure (SOP). This SOP will incorporate best practices from India and abroad to enhance visitor safety and elephant management.
Forest department sources revealed that they are closely studying the century-old Theppakadu elephant camp, located on the banks of the Moyar River within Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu. At Theppakadu, visitors are permitted only twice a day to observe elephant feeding sessions from a designated distance, while mahouts and caretakers exclusively handle and feed the animals.
Forest minister Eshwar Khandre stated that Karnataka is seriously considering adopting similar practices at some, if not all, of the state's 14 elephant camps. Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, Khandre said, “Visitors at Theppakadu are permitted at designated hours. They can watch food preparation and feeding of elephants by the mahouts in the presence of senior officials from a safe distance divided by barricades. Also, this has been hailed as one of the best and safest methods.”
“We will incorporate a similar method in the latest SOP,” he added, emphasizing that it is impossible to predict the behavior of even trained wild animals at all times. This announcement comes a day after the forest department imposed restrictions on tourist interaction with captive elephants in Karnataka camps. The new measures include a complete ban on feeding, bathing, and taking photographs with elephants from close quarters.
