Corbett Park to get Bannerghatta jumbos

Three female elephants and their calves of the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) will soon be sent to the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

They have proposed to give Vanitha (31) and her male calf, Vanashree (9) and her male calf, Veda (17) and her female calf, for patrolling and eco-tourism at the park in Uttarakhand.

Vanashree’s calf turned one last December and the calves of Veda and Vanitha will celebrate their first birthday in February.

BBP Director Santosh Kumar, told Deccan Herald that they received a letter from the Uttarakhand forest department, requesting the BBP to give them five young breeding females and one male elephant calf for patrolling and eco-tourism duty in the Jim Corbett National Park. “This is because we have a good healthy population of 20 elephants- nine males and 11 females, he added.

The Uttarakhand Forest Department had sent a letter to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife), Karnataka, in November, 2015. This was then forwarded to the Member Secretary, Zoo Authority of Karnataka, and then to the BBP Director this month.

 In the reply to dated January 5, 2016, BBP proposed to give them three females and three calves.

“This decision has been taken because we do not want to separate the mothers from their young ones. The proposal is now before the Uttarakhand forest department officials for their approval. A team of officials had come to BBP around three months back and saw the healthy elephant population and sent a proposal,” he said.