In Odisha, wild elephants have been known to wander into human settlements for a variety of reasons, including food. Occasionally, conflicts and fatalities result from this. To lessen conflicts between people and elephants, the Odisha government has looked for trained “kumki” elephants.
In a letter, Additional Chief Secretary Satyabrat Sahu of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change urged Supriya Sahu of Tamil Nadu to provide kumki elephants.
“Having trained kumki elephants would be a huge help to us in dealing with these conflicts in a humane and efficient manner. Kumki elephants can be strategically used to assist in controlling and driving wild elephants, minimising harm to crops, habitations, and the possibility of both human and elephant fatalities,” Sahu’s letter stated.
Four trained kumki elephants have been requested by Odisha to be used in conflict-prone regions of the state. The letter also stated that the mahouts who are caring for the kumki elephants might be assigned to the elephants, albeit just to provide our local mahouts with initial handholding assistance while they get to know the elephants.
Kumki Elephants: What Are They?
The jumbos trained to catch and tame wild elephants are known as kumki elephants. In addition, these elephants are employed in rescue operations to treat and free injured or imprisoned wild elephants.
In addition to these, they can be used for forest patrols. Additionally, these kumkis are used to eject wild elephants from human settlements whenever they occur.
