Elephants' day out in Dubare

The pachyderms play football, garland visitors, guests

There was a festive mood in Dubare elephant camp in Kushalanagr on Tuesday. It was a rare sight for the visitors who had come from far away places to the Camp.

The decked up elephants delighted the audience by playing football. The crowd cheered when the elephants obeyed the commands of the mahouts at the ‘Aane habba’ (elephant festival).

The elephants were given a bath by the mahouts in the morning and decked up for the festival.

The elephants obeyed the commands of the mahouts to give different postures and garland the guests.  

To a command, the pachyderms marched to display their intelligence and sprayed water through their trunks to greet the visitors.

They walked stylishly by clutching one another’s tail. There was competitive and sportive spirit among the elephants.

The elephants also welcomed former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and Minister for Youth Services and Sports M P Appachu Ranjan by garlanding them.

Gowda and Appachu Ranjan inaugurated the festival by feeding the elephants with jaggery and sugarcane.  The elephants also amused the audience by playing football. The elephants were led by senior elephants Vikram, Prashanth and Gopi while playing.

The activities of Harsha, Vijaya, Gopi, Kaveri, Ranjan, Shivagange, Theertharama, Chandra, Rama, Ajay, calves Karthik and Ayyappa enthralled the visitors. Mahouts J K Dobi was the master who was giving directions to all the elephants.

Zilla Panchayat former president Ravi Kushalappa, Kodagu CCF Brijesh Kumar Deekshith, DCF Dhananjay, ACF Nagaraj, RFO M M Acchappa and others were present.