The Makulakocha herd. File picture

Jamshedpur, Aug. 3: The rescued gang of four girls will probably be ecstatic about getting a hunk for company, but Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary functionaries are in no mood to be indulgent. Rather, they are frowning over the demands of jumbo hospitality.

An eight-year-old tusker from Birsa Munda Biological Park, Ormanjhi near Ranchi, will shortly join four female elephants — the middle-aged trio of Champa, Basanti and Pagli, as well as the three-year-old Rajni — stationed at Makulakocha village, an entry point to the sanctuary. The tusker and three other elephants were staying for some years at Ranchi zoo. But as central norms forbid elephants in zoos, the Birsa zoo quartet was given marching orders, two to Betla National Park in Palamau and the third at Dalma, where the fourth is likely to follow later.

But as of now, only one tusker is coming to Dalma. Mahout Shiraj Ansari has already left for Ranchi to lead him to his new home, where he will be handed over to Dalma forest range authorities for rehabilitation.

“The elephant will come walking from Ranchi. The mahout is observing his temperament,” a functionary at Mango range office said.

Principal chief conservator of forests A.K. Malhotra confirmed that the elephant would come to Makulakocha for rehab. “I have ordered the release of the elephant from Ranchi zoo. I am acting on the orders from central government, which mandate that elephants can’t be kept in zoos,” he told The Telegraph.

But neither the Centre’s diktat nor the likelihood of Cupid striking the tusker and young Rajni has softened Dalma functionaries. “We are treating Champa, Pagli, Basanti and Rajni like sahibs. We spend nearly a lakh every month behind these rescued elephants. Now, we’ll be burdened with one more elephant,” an official said.

The four rescued female elephants eat khichdi, cucumber and tender leaves. “We employ cooks to feed the elephants khichdi. The new guest will get the same treatment,” he said, adding that three mahouts were recruited to control the pachyderms.

The state forest department funds the elephant upkeep. But Dalma officials are fretting over the labour incurred, too.

“We are already tending to four elephants. There are other natural parks in the state” is the common refrain.

The officials might do well to remember that the new guest would probably add some zing to the lives of the four female elephants, who have not exactly had a lot of fun.

Rajni, now three, was separated from her herd two years ago when she was just a calf, brutally attacked by villagers at Icchagarh in Seraikela-Kharsawan and took months to recover at Tata Steel Zoological Park. The trio of Champa, Basanti and Pagli were rescued in Jamtara from illegal mahouts who used them to beg for alms. Their case is still sub-judice with Jamtara court.