Friday, May 16, 2014

Elephant Feeding @ Top Slip

Elephant feeding,  Topslip
During my visit to Top Slip, a tourist spot inside the Aanamalai Tiger Reserve (a part of Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park) I happened to take a wildlife safari which led me to an elephant camp inside the forest.  Called as Kozhikamuthi, the elephant camp is home to number of best trained elephants or kumkis which are used for taming elephants and to transport timber. The Top Slip derives its name from the process of wooden logs used to be slipped down from the top of the hills to the plains.

Elephant feeding @ Topslip
Kozhikamuthi elephant camp is a small hamlet or settlement of tribes exclusively converted for elephants to keep trained and housed under the Malisar tribes, who belong to the elephant handler’s caste and skilled to work with Asian elephants. It was evening when we made to this camp and it seems feeding elephants in front of the visitors is a regular activity there. There were very few elephants standing behind the wood barriers, amuse when mahout feeds them mouthful (kavalam) of vitamin balls, one of the vital ingredient on their daily intake.

Elephant feeding
Situated at the bank of a river, the elephant camp has natural surroundings of green and woods but been a dry season then, many elephants were sent to another camp deep inside the forest which is restricted for pubic.

12 comments:

George said...

I really enjoyed this post. Your pictures are wonderful, and it's neat that this elephant camp exists.

TexWisGirl said...

i hope they are well-tended and respected. :)

Indrani said...

Reminds me of my trip to Dubare elephant camp in Coorg.
Great shots!

Pooja Mittal said...

Wild life safari, sounds interesting.,
Bring around animals and nature is one of the most refreshing thing.
Never fed elephants, they have such big mouth, very scary :)
Keep in touch
www.beingbeautifulandpretty.com

Renu said...

surprised that they also take vitamins:)

Rajesh said...

Wonderful trip to the place and interesting images.

Destination Infinity said...

I never thought about the name - Top slip! I should have gone to this place and Valparai when I was in Coimbatore but due to my sheer laziness I didn't! Will plan a trip sometime in the future. Hopefully.

Destination Infinity

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Kozhikamuthi elephant camp looks amazing Jeevan. I love learning about these beautiful creatures. I love elephants!

Anonymous said...

Awww - what great shots.

Sandhya said...

This is interesting and I love elephants. I should visit this place one day! Thanks for the pictures!

Unknown said...

I surely enjoyed that writing. I like to learn new things and especially about animals.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What a great story about the Elephant Camp.... Bet those elephants get lots of attention and lots of FOOD from humans!!!!!

Glad they are well-taken-care of !!! Great set of photos.
Hugs,
Betsy