Dasara jumbos to bid adieu to heritage city today

Dasara elephants, the cynosure of all eyes since a month, will return to their respective forest camps on Tuesday.

The jumbos, including howdah-bearer Arjuna, were given a relaxed bath at the palace premises after the hectic Jamboo Savari on Saturday. They will be transported to their camps through trucks, and the Forest department has made all necessary arrangements.

While Arjuna will head back to Balle elephant camp under DB Kuppe Wildlife range in Nagarahole National Park, Abhimanyu, Balarama, Varalakshmi, Bheema, Krishna, Drona, Gopalaswamy will return to Mattigodu camp located on Mysuru-Kodagu border.

Vijaya, Kaveri, Harsha, Vikrama, Gopi, Prashanth are from Dubare camp in Kodagu district and Gajendra is from K Gudi elephant camp which falls under under Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve in Chamarajanagar district.

Veterinarian Dr Nagaraj, who takes care of the Dasara elephants said, all the animals are fit and healthy. They will leave the palace premises on Tuesday.

Jumbos gain weight

All the 15 elephants have gained body weight after their arrival in Mysuru in August. While Arjuna gained 660 kg, Vijaya, the lightweight among the jumbos, has gained 190 kg. Arjuna now weighs 5,910 kg and Vijaya weighs 2,960 kg.

All the elephants are fed with protein-rich food to improve their physical fitness. The elephants diet included urad dal, green gram, wheat, boiled rice, onion, vegetables, rice, groundnut, coconut, jaggery and sugar cane during the rehearsals for Jamboo Savari.