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Elephants bring Tamil Nadu, Kerala close

a team of veterinary specialists from Kerala is helping Tamil Nadu in a Rest and Restoration camp for temple elephants at the picturesque Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Ootty.

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Tamil Nadu and Kerala politicians may be in a state of ‘war’ over the Mullaperiyar issue, but on the ground, a team of veterinary specialists from Kerala is helping Tamil Nadu in a Rest and Restoration camp for temple elephants at the picturesque Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Ootty.

The 48-day-long camp, which commenced Wednesday morning, will see the elephants undergoing Ayurvedic treatment, simple physical exercises, rest and medication. “It is their annual rejuvenation holidays. They will not be deployed for any kind of work during the camp,” said a senior forest official. 

Dr KC Panicker, who heads the Punnathur Kotta camp in Guruvayur, has been hired by the Government of Tamil Nadu to lead the rejuvenation camp for 37 temple elephants from various parts of the state.

“These elephants will be given special diet consisting of green gram, rice, ragi, chyavanaprash and herbal medicine under the supervision of physicians,” Panicker told DNA. A team comprising 15 physicians from Kerala is attending to the pachyderms.

The Rest and Restoration camp for elephants was launched by Jayalalithaa when she became chief minister in 2001. But the DMK regime discontinued the camp. Jayalalithaa ordered its revival in 2011.

However, there has been some resistance to the camp by some environmentalists. “All these temple elephants are suffering from diseases like TB and diabetes. There is a possibility that wild animals in the Mudumalai sanctuary too may get infected with these diseases,” the Tamil Nadu Green Movement had contented in his plea, which was dismissed by the court.

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