Elephants Released to Wild for First Time in India

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and its partner, WTI (WildlifeTrust of India) announced that six elephant calves have been successfully released to the wild in Manas National Park.

The elephants -- which were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) -- were transported 450 kilometers from India's Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park.

In Manas the elephants will be reintegrated into a wild herd once theya re familiarized with the area. It is the first time elephants have been rehabilitated and released to the wild in India, the groups say. Sri Lanka and Kenya arethe only other countries to have successfully released hand-raisedelephants into the wild.

"The elephants will be allowed to move freely in the jungle during the daytime under the supervision of a keeper," says N. V. K. Ashraf, director of wild rescue of WTI. "At night, for their security, they will be sheltered in a stockade built in an area of about one hectare [about 10000 sq. meters]."

The elephants were transported to an area of Manas called Doimari, an ideal elephant habitat located far from the nearest human habitation. It isthe biggest continuous forest habitat in India's northeast region and extends from the Indian state of Assam up to the country of Bhutan.

"All six elephants are being radio-collared for post-release monitoring. If there is a problem we can find and rescue them," says Dr. Bhaskar Choudhry, wildlife veterinarian of WTI.

The six elephants, which range between two-and-a-half andsix-years-old, were hand-raised at the rehabilitation center (CWRC) inKaziranga. The young calves were rescued from different parts of Assam andhave been at the centre from one to five years. CWRC is India's firstmulti-species rehabilitation facility and was set up in partnership betweenWTI, IFAW, and the Assam Forest Department.

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