President Murmu visits Theppakadu elephant camp in Tamil Nadu, interacts with Bomman and Bellie

Bellie was recently appointed as the first woman cavady (elephant caretaker) by the Tamil Nadu government.

President Droupadi Murmu visited the Theppakadu elephant camp in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district on Saturday.

While she fed sugarcane to the pachyderms there, the president later interacted with the tribal couple Bomman and Bellie, who were featured in Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers.

She also interacted with other mahouts and cavadies (elephant caretakers), on the occasion.

Bellie was recently appointed as the first woman cavady by the Tamil Nadu government.

Earlier, the President who arrived at the Masinagudi helipad from Mysuru, was received by Tamil Nadu Forest Minister M Mathivendan, Tourism Minister K Ramachandran, district collector S P Amrith, and other officials.

She was accorded a warm reception upon her arrival and later taken around the elephant camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve that accommodates about 23 elephants.

On Sunday, she is scheduled to address the 165th convocation of the University of Madras in Chennai and later rename the Durbar Hall at the Raj Bhavan in the state capital as Bharathiyar Mandapam, after the national poet Subramanya Bharathi.

During her two-day visit to Puducherry, the President will take part in several programmes including inaugurating the Linear Accelerator of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), on August 7, and pay a visit to Auroville the next day.