Places

A Date With Eva

Eva is beautiful. Has naughty eyes. Very warm and friendly. But make no mistake. She is a 7-year old baby elephant.

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Malayalees’ love story with elephants is centuries old. No temple festivals are complete without a procession with an elephant. And it is not just temples. Even churches and some mosque festivals have elephants that add glamour and pride to the festivities.

Kerala has a few elephant camps, where elephants used to be domesticated and trained by mahouts and other elephants. Since capturing elephants is banned in Kerala, these camps now cater to the injured or orphaned elephants rescued from the wild. Not surprisingly, these are big tourist attractions as well. Konni Elephant Camp is one such in the Pattanamthitta district in Kerala. The camp is adjoining the Konni reserve forest and the Achenkoil reserve forest. But Konni itself, like all villages in Kerala, is a small town. Capturing elephants in Konni Forest division started sometime in 1810 and continued till the ban was enforced.

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The massive cage built entirely in wood was made in 1947 and can have 6 elephants at a time.

The Kerala Forest Department, Tourism Department, and the Forest Development Agency have jointly developed an eco-tourism initiative around this camp. An interesting Elephant Museum is also housed in this campus spread over 9 acres.

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2 Comments on “A Date With Eva

  1. Hey unny i liked this article….pictured with nice family potrait..and gorgeous aana.(elephant)
    looking fwd to more articles written by u..
    and keep me posted…take care

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