Elephants....

Aanachal- Regular path of elephant its also called as 'Aanathara'

Aanaviratti-place where elephant threatened, a plant also have this name because of irritating leaves.

Aanachuvadi- A herb used in Ayurveda. It is like the feet of elephant.

Aanavayan pura-Temporary setup with only one room

Aanavandi-Older days KSRTC buses are known as Aanavandi

Aanayirankal-Place where elephants climbed down

Aanavalankili is a common bird in Kerala

Secure sleep...

Elephant calf sleeping in the midst of the herd. They always provide security to their little ones... Views from Bannerghatta national Park, Bangalore. The park is famous for Lion and Tiger safari. We can watch the animals from their natural habitat.

Views from Bangalore. Shots by my friend Susan

Elephants with Identity cards

It is assumed that all captive elephants of Kerala have their own identity cards. The identity card, called microchip contains a 10digit number which can be read by a card reader. All details of the elephants will be imprinted on the chip such as history, owner and physical details. The microchip in the size of a grain will be fixed under the left ear of the elephant. Elephants without microchip can not partcipate in any events.
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Asiad Appu and Kuttinarayanan

Elephant tourism

Chinnar wild life sanctuary
Wild life sanctuary is a confined area in which the eco system, animals and birds are protected by the Government.
Chinnar wild life sanctuary
A unique one of its kind with a variety of animals. It is located at 60Km from Munnar and 180Km from Kochi. The nearest town is Marayoor. Nearest Railway station in Kerala is Alwaye. Munnar-Udumal pett road is passing through the sanctuary. Its a wonderful site to observe the mammals Elephants and tiger.

Money plant Mandaram Changalam peranda

Drawing elephant

Suresh, an artist from Kochi had drawn more than 200 pictures of elephants without chains. Almost all of his pictures are with the same title'Elephants without chains'. He is a great elephant lover and eager to draw elephants in happy mood. Most of his elephant creations are in different colours other than black. According to him black indicate sadness. Most of his customers are tourists coming to Kochi.
He is a degree holder from Fine arts college, Thiruvananthapuram. Now he is working on big painting with more than 700 elephants representing 700 million people race all over the world.

Picture courtsey:How stuff works, an interesting site to know how to draw an elephant....

Konni Elephant Kraal

Konni elephant camp(courtsey:Konniecotourism.org)

Twins from Konni Elephant Kraal

Konni, elephant training centre is in Pathanamthitta District, about 10Kms from the Pathanamthitta town.
The elephant Kraal is a wooden cage used for training baby elephants. Baby elephants are groomed by the trained mahouts (chattam padippikkal-teaching the rules of a tamed elephant). This domestication is done systematically and according to the rules. This elephant Kraal had a history of 100 years. It is located in an area of 10 Acres.

Puthenkulam-the elephant village in Kerala

Puthenkulam village is in Bhoothakkulam Panchayath in Kollam District. The village has the credit of having the largest number of captive elephants in Kerala. The village has more than 40 elephants. Puthenkulam Ananthapadmanabhan is the hero of elephant lovers of Kerala belongs to Puthenkulam Shaji. He had 9 elephants(6 male) including male baby elephant Shivan. The village has a lot of water resources and rich in coconut trees also. Thus it became the ideal village for elephants. Shaji's family started the elephant business in Puthenkulam. Once they had 23 elephants!!!After the festival season he gives rest to elephants. During this time he uses them for elephant-tourism. Many foreigners are interested to feed and bath an elephant. They are very curious to spend a day with this animal. Shaji is also on his way to a tourist facilitation centre at Puthenkulam.
Puthenkulam Ananthapadmanabhan the tallest elephant of South Kerala(10 feet 2''). Other majestic elephants are Puthenkulam Arjunan and Puthenkulam Mahadevan. 7 months old Shivan is the key attraction.
Every year more than 10,000 tourists are coming to this village. Here we can spend a day with an elephant. Facilities for elephant riding and trekking are also available.
Former Chief minister of Jayalalitha is a fan of Shaji. Actors Jayaram, Ganesh kumar and Babu Namboothiri are also regular visitors to this elephant village.

Elephants of Shaji Puthenkulam
For more tourism facilities and resorts at Paravur

Elephant camps in Kerala

Picture courtsey:www.awf.org

There are 7 elephant camps in Kerala. These are run by the Forest Department of Kerala Govt.
Konni-Pathanamthitta District
Kodanad-ErnakulamDistrict
Muthanga -Wayanad District
Nilambur-Wayanad District

Nedumkayam elephant camp which is in Malappuram District, situated 18km away from Nilambur town. This camp is in the Nilambur reserve forest area. Nilambur is 40Km away from Malappuram.
Tholpetti -
Arymkavu-Pathanamthitta District
Thekkady-Kottayam District

Two baby elephants dead at Kodanad in Kerala

Kodanad the elephant sanctuary in Kerala is in Ernakulam District. Two baby elephants Aswathi and Niranjan dead within 2 week. It is reported that 'Herpis Virus' infection is the reason behind the death. The officials at the camp had taken actions to prevent the infection.
For more elephant news visit the elephant site

Nibha Namboothiri the first woman mahout of Asia had started a paliative care clinic for abused elephants in her home at Kodeeri Mana, Thiroor. She was very craze about the elephants from her childhood. She studied with the first female mahout of India, Parvati of Assam. Parvati learned her trade from her father. Namboodiri explained that mahouts may be classified into three types. Those who use love to control their elephants are called reghawan; those who use ingenuity to outsmart them, yukthiman; and those who control their animals with cruelty, balwan. It is common wisdom that if a mahout is cruel to his elephant, he may end up being killed, but if he is kind, it may one day save his life. There is the story of Subedar Ali, a mahout who was mauled by a tiger. His elephant carried him to safety, traveling several miles with the tiger in hot pursuit

Address of Nibha Namboothiripad:

Kodeeri Natural Camp Kodeeri Mana, S. Nagaparambu Naduvattom P.O., Kuttippuram Via. Malappuram Dist, Kerala, India
Ph: 0494 2604578 Mob: 9447084578 Email: kodeeri@sify.com

More

For more about elephants....http://www.elephant-kerala.com/
'Gajakesarikal' a book about the majestic elephants of Kerala in Malayalam by Mr.K.P.Raju an ardent lover of elephants. To know more about the book:phone-0481-2411733