1 week Ago By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Set on the verdant banks of the Neyyar reservoir at the foothills of Agasthya hills, the Kottur Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram has long been a popular destination for tourists. As India’s first elephant rehabilitation centre, it offers visitors the chance to observe elephants in their most relaxed state — enjoying refreshing baths in the river, playfully splashing water, and relishing healthy food. After being closed since February for renovation work, the centre reopened earlier this month, with new buildings, amenities and approach road.
The centre can house up to 50 elephants, and will soon have a natural history museum dedicated to the pachyderm. The roads inside and outside the centre have been concreted for ease of access. Each expansive enclosure, covering five acres, is designed to accommodate group living, particularly for female elephants and their calves.
Each tusker is provided comparable facilities, with at least an acre of forested area. Currently, the centre is home to 15 elephants, including seven calves under the age of 10. The oldest elephant in the group is Soman, an 87-year-old tusker, while the youngest is Aaranya, a four-year-old female who joined the group two years ago.
The centre includes a hand-rearing area for baby elephants, quarantine facilities, specially designed enclosures for elephants in musth, and kraals for those captured from the wild. Other key features include a central kitchen for preparing food for the elephants and a special open space that allows up to 100 tourists at a time to observe the feeding of five elephants. Additional resources include a training centre for mahouts, veterinarians, foresters, and enthusiasts, along with an elephant veterinary hospital, waste management facilities, and a crematorium.
For visitors, there is an entrance plaza, cafeteria, restrooms, boating facilities, and designated areas to observe the elephants bathing. The next phase of the `105-crore project aims to provide a chain-free, natural environment for elephants within the centre, which spans 176 hectares..
