Elephants get rakhi as environmentalists take pledge to protect them

Environmentalists tied Rakhis to elephants while taking an oath to protect and safeguard the gentle giants in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Wednesday on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

Four ‘Kunki’ (trainer) elephants of the forest department lodged at Ramshai Medla Camp in Mainaguri block of got the Rakhis.

“Human-elephant conflict is going on all around. We wanted to spread the message of conserving elephants. So on this day, we handed over Rakhis to forest department officials for four elephants - Shilavati, Amna, Raja and Aranya,” environmentalist Anirban Majumder said.

The four elephants were bathed and dressed up for the occasion. Mahouts of the forest department tied the Rakhis to the animals who were also provided with their favourite food.

Forest department officials were present at the function.

Majumder said, “We have been celebrating Rakhi Purnima in a similar way for the past few years.”