Kerala’s ecotourism village Kottoor to have India’s first elephant rehabilitation centre

Thiruvananthapuram: India to have its first ever elephant rehabilitation centre following the footsteps of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage which is based in Sri Lanka. An ecotourism village called Kottoor which is located in Kerala is being considered for the elephant rehabilitation centre. The Kottoor is based near the state capital Thiruvananthapuram and initially, a fund of Rs 105 crore has been granted for the project which was launched last month by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The step to build an elephant rehabilitation centre is foreseen as an overall elephant care centre by the centre which will comprise of an elephant museum, mahout training centre, super-specialty hospital, a retirement home and crematorium for the animals. The rehabilitation will basically provide service to the orphaned, injured and older elephants.

So far, the rehabilitation centre has only 15 elephants in it and once the infrastructure of the centre is complete, it is expected to raise the number of elephants.

As stated by Thiruvananthapuram Wildlife Warden Y M Shaji Kumar, “Besides giving best care and protection to orphaned and abandoned elephants we are planning to give an opportunity for people to know more about elephants. They can understand their behavior and life pattern from a close range.”

Speaking on the same matter, elephant expert PS Easa also says that they have been toying with the idea for some time and once it is complete, it will be a boon for wildlife researchers and veterinary students.

Further, there are plans of admitting the captive jumbos in the centre. As per the last elephant census, there are 507 captive elephants in the state. In fact, the Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayur town alone has 59 elephants.

The elephant rehabilitation centre will be spread over 65 hectares of natural forests that will also offer elephant safari and other activities for the tourists.

The mahouts will avail mahout training centre and residential facilities for them in the centre. As there are no authorised training schools for mahouts in the country, this will be the first of its kind.

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