People of all age groups, especially children, were delighted to spend time in the company of the elephants at the observance of World Elephant Day organised by Nandankanan Zoological Park
BHUBANESWAR: The Nandankanan Zoo Park (NZP) observed World Elephant Day Monday in the presence of elephants and children who had come in large numbers to watch the park’s elephants.
The day was observed with fanfare here as visitors were allowed to come close and feed the pachyderms fruits which were specially arranged by the zoo authorities. People of all age groups, especially children, were delighted to spend sometime in the company of the elephants.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Ajay Kumar Mohapatra said, “The activities were organised so that people can become friendly with animals. There are 1976 elephants in Odisha and the state has the third largest jumbo population in India. We have three elephant reserves in the state and have planned many activities for elephant conservation.”
There are eight elephants in NZP. Of them four, Gori, Kamala, Juli and Mama, were brought to the venue and were offered bananas, coconuts and other fruits by the children. The elephant caretakers were also felicitated.
As per a government reports, 548 elephants have died in the last eight years in Odisha. The decline in the quality of forests is forcing elephants to come to human habitats increasing human-elephant conflicts in the process. Between 2011-12 and 2018-19, 680 people died in animal attacks. Of these, 535 were killed by elephants.
The increase in poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflicts and mistreatment in captivity are some of the threats for both African and Asian elephants.
Working towards better protection for wild elephants, improving enforcement to prevent poaching and the trade in ivory, conserving elephant habitats, better treatment for captive elephants and reintroducing captive elephants into natural, protected sanctuaries are the goals that elephant conservation organizations are focusing on around the world.